Magneto's School for Gifted Youngsters
by superfluffball
Summary: AU The bullet strikes Charles in the chest rather than the spine. With Charles gone, Erik decides to fight for peace, but can he help young mutants while struggling with problems of his own? Can he even successfully recruit students for the school?
1. Changes

Author's Note: This will be a multi-chapter story, and I will update as often as possible. Reviews help motivate me to write more often, and I need feedback to improve my writing! :^)

Summary- Erik Lensherr really yearns for mutant supremacy, but after Charles dies from the ricochet bullet, he decides to take it upon himself to fulfill his friend's dreams for peace between mutants and humans. Can Erik help young mutants while dealing with grief and his many doubts about the cause with which he has aligned himself?

Chilling Changes

An icy cold tension filled the funeral home. All of the people in the room stood somberly around a wrought iron metal casket, adorned with an intricate silver design, but everyone left space for the tall, brown-haired man who was peering into the casket remorsefully. A pretty, round-faced, red-haired girl, with scaled blue skin, inched up until she was standing beside him, an equally pained look on her face. The others merely left the two of them alone to their thoughts, although each of them was battling painful thoughts as well.

"Raven, I just want to be left alone," the man said, turning away from the girl.

Raven reached her trembling hand out towards him. "But Erik, we're not alone in this!" He flinched away from her touch and resumed his solitary mourning.

A slim, auburn haired woman stared blankly at the casket, standing several steps back. Moira felt waves of guilt wash over her as she looked at the casket, but she maintained a cold exterior. Nearby, a fresh-faced redhead seemed to be on the verge of tears, his face flush with sadness. Next to him, a blond man frowned, his face twisted in anger; normally a handsome young man, his anger distorted his facial features.

Finally, a tall broad shouldered man, wearing a tan trench coat and a dark brown fedora that blocked his entire head from view, stepped forward to the podium. He coughed politely, and the majority of the room looked up to give him their attention. Erik glared at the broad shouldered man, as if daring him to interrupt his own mourning.

"If I may—I would like to speak some words." The crowd nodded and murmured in agreement. "Everyone here knows me. I am Hank McCoy, and although I was only acquainted with Charles Xavier for a fairly short period of time, his presence touched my heart, as he did for many. If he had been given the chance to live longer, he would have become a great man—a great leader! As it is, my life is forever changed because of him. He outed me as mutant, but this was a good thing. Because of his influence, I have experienced a great deal of things I never would have otherwise and I have come to accept myself for what I am!" He ripped off the trench coat and hat, revealing his blue furred body. He was only wearing a pair of dark slacks and dress shoes, but apparently nothing else—no shirt or suit jacket to be seen. Hank bared his teeth, exposing sharp canines. He looked as though he was either about to cry or maul someone, but he calmed down after a moment and moved over to a cluster of chairs, immediately collapsing into the nearest one.

The others in the room had mixed reactions to this surprise display. Raven's face held an odd look as she glanced at him, a mixture of pride and grief; Erik merely raised an eyebrow questioningly; Moira looked half shocked, half disgusted at Hank's behavior at a funeral; the blond man, Alex, was smirking; while the redhead, Sean, looked terrified. After a moment, they returned to their previous states, and with no one else moving up to speak, they prepared to transport Charles's body to its final resting place.

Only Erik stepped forward to the casket—there were no pallbearers—Erik merely levitated the casket with his magnetic powers. No one objected to this arrangement. Erik had been Charles's best friend, and although they had not known each other for long, they had formed an undeniable bond. Raven, Charles's foster sister, had known Charles for the longest, and she agreed that this was what he would have wanted. He would not have wanted the blame for his death to fall to either Erik or Moira.

The procession made its way out into the graveyard. Everyone watched sadly as Erik gradually lowered the casket into the funeral plot. He was being the most gentle he had ever been.

Flashback-

Magneto was concentrating intently on turning the Soviet and American weapons back on their own ships. He created a magnetic field around himself to protect himself from any metal threats or interfering, metal-harnessed mutants. Shots were fired, but they merely ricocheted off of the magnetic barrier, which was quite unfortunate for Charles Xavier, who had chosen that exact moment to stand up, having finally recovered from his hand-to-hand fight with Magneto.

One second Charles had just stood up to face Magneto, and the next, the stray bullet had torn through his chest. Magneto immediately released his magnetic hold on the missiles, and ran towards his dear friend. He rushed over, but he knew, as he saw the bullet hole in Charles's chest, right where his heart should be, that Charles was gone forever. Magneto tried to comfort himself in that Charles's death had been a quick one, but he had no idea if it had been painless, and the circumstances only reminded him of his own mother's death, those many years ago.

After a few moments of distress, Moira, too, came running over. Tears were streaking her face, and she looked extremely distraught. In her, Magneto saw a weaker person to shift blame onto, for his own guilt felt unbearable. "It's your fault, human. Your bullet has killed him! Charles was my best friend! He was like a brother to me, and you have killed him!" Magneto was screaming now, in no way in control of his emotions or his powers. He was again reminded of his mother's death.

The metal around them was beginning to rumble. Magneto's own helmet was beginning to rise. Moira tore off her rising dog tags, fearful of what Magneto's out of control powers could do to her. The young mutants followed suit by pulling off their metal harnesses. All of the pieces of metal, including the helmet, rose into the air, and began swirling around like a metal tornado.

Mystique finally recovered from her own shock at Charles's death, and moved towards Magneto, her hands up in a peaceful manner. "Erik, I know you're distraught over Charles's death! I am, too! So is Moira." She pointed at the cowering woman. "I know you loved him like a brother, so did I! But it's not Moira's fault, and it's not your fault. If anything, it's both your faults, since this wouldn't have happened without both of you!" Mystique's tone had changed from soothing to anger. Beast elbowed her roughly, succeeding in getting her to shut up.

The floating pieces of metal returned to the ground, as Magneto sank to his knees. He was glad to regain control of his emotions and powers. He had no intention of killing a beach full of mutants. An eerie peace washed over the beach momentarily before everyone remembered their loss and sorrow returned.

Mystique was staring at Magneto oddly, as if in shock that her speech had succeeded in calming the older man. Beast nudged her awkwardly and pointed over to Emma Frost, who pointed up at her head and smirked. "Azazel rescued me from that terrible prison. It seems as though you needed some psychic assistance."

Everyone glared at her for reminding them of the loss of their own dear psychic, and the young mutants and Moira took this as their cue to run over to Charles's lifeless corpse. Mystique cradled her brother's head in her lap and began sobbing into his once soft hair. It seemed as though the life had left his hair too, and it was now stiff and somewhat blood encrusted. The others left her some space as they had only known Charles for a short time compared to Mystique.

Gazing at Mystique and Charles, it finally sunk in to Erik that Charles was dead. With Charles dead, there was no longer a leader to fight for his ideals. Erik looked on, sadly. This was not how he wanted the debate for mutant rights to end. Erik could only hope that someone else would step up to lead this opposing movement, but he could not fathom any of the young mutants doing that. The only worthy leader was…himself. Others would definitely fight for mutant supremacy, like Shaw and his minions, but only Erik could lead the fight for mutant and human peace. At the same time he would be opposing Shaw's ideals and memory, he would be supporting Charles's.

Magneto rose to his feet and looked around the beach. "My fellow mutants… and Moira, today marks a terrible day for mutantkind. We have lost a man who would have proved to be a great and powerful leader. His dream was to create a world in which mutants and humans alike could coexist peacefully. I will see to it that his dream will not die with him! The first stage of his dream was to create a school to teach mutants how to use their powers responsibly and also teach them normal school subjects. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters will need some teachers. Who is with me?"

The young mutants looked around at each other, bewildered. Then, Havok voiced the one question on everyone's mind. "Err, Emma Frost, right? Did you rewire Magneto's brain?"

Emma glared at him, offended at the accusation. "No! I merely calmed him down with my telepathic powers."

"Let me explain myself." Everyone turned back to Magneto, glad for a distraction from thinking about Charles's death. "I feel… guilty about Charles…"

Seeing that this was painful for Magneto to say, Mystique stepped in, still tearful. "I understand. Charles would have wanted us to continue his dream." She turned back to her brother. He felt cold to her touch, but she still gripped his hand tightly. She could not believe that her caring, yet somewhat infuriating brother was gone to the world.

Magneto suddenly felt strong emotions that he could not place. "We don't deserve these names yet! These so-called mutant names. Let's renounce these names until we are ready for them." Erik exclaimed.

"When will that be?"

"When we have done our jobs and the world is ready to accept us. Then we can become superheroes!" Erik gave a twisted smile at these words.

Charles's young charges all nodded in agreement, ready to shed their silly names for now.

"We could use a telepath at our school, and the rest of you can come too." Erik turned his piercing gaze to the four mutants standing by the sub.

"I already told ya—that kind of thing just isn't for me," Angel said.

Riptide shook his head no and turned to Azazel.

"I won't help you at your school, but I will transport everyone back to the United States," he said, respectfully.

"I've actually always wanted to be a teacher!" Everyone gaped at Emma Frost, who smiled coldly in response.

"Is that a yes?" Alex asked.

"Yes."

"Moira's welcome too, right?" Sean asked.

Erik grudgingly nodded in agreement, for Charles's sake. Charles! Charles was…gone. Gone for good. It was now Erik and the young mutants' job to carry on for Charles's greatest dream. He turned to Moira and Emma. He would need as much help as possible, even if it was from someone or two that he would normally never align himself with.

Present day, right after the funeral-

Erik, Moira, Raven, Sean, and Alex returned to the mansion after the funeral, entering the large, empty house—except it was not empty, as none other than Emma Frost stood in the foyer, surrounded by luggage.

"I'm moving in! Is this a bad time?" Emma asked, trying her best to appear innocent.

Author's note- So what did you think? Is the premise any good? Is it worth continuing?


	2. Distractions

Author's Note: Welcome to chapter 2! I was disappointed by the lack of feedback to chapter 1. My only consolation is that no one hated it enough to leave a scathing review.

This chapter is dedicated to Wing-Mei, for her awesomeness and support! You have awesome editing skills, too, Wing-Mei! ;^)

Chapter Two:

Distractions

As she stood stiffly in the mansion's foyer, Emma looked as though her smile had been pasted unnaturally on her face.

"One day, you will learn how to show emotions, ice queen," Erik snapped, his temper short. The others watched in interest as Erik rounded on the unsuspecting Emma Frost.

"It's White Queen, and you're the one who invited me to teach here!" The smile remained on Emma's face as she gestured to her suitcases. "Is there anyone to help me with my luggage?"

"You're a telepath. You know very well that today was Charles's funeral." Erik's eyes were downcast, and he clenched his fists angrily. How dare that vile woman come into Charles's childhood home and insult his memory. "I've obviously made a mistake in inviting you here!"

"We are going to need a telepath to find new recruits. I've begun working on building a new Cerebro in the basement," Hank spoke up, channeling more of his meek, scientist side than his beastly, animalistic one. He did not want to alienate their one chance to gain new recruits.

Although he did not want to admit it, Erik knew this to be true. "Carry your stuff upstairs on your own and find an empty room!" Erik growled, stomping off upstairs to find solitude in his own room.

The young mutants and Moira watched as Emma changed into diamond form and proceeded to march up the staircase, mustering up as much confidence as possible. Inside, she felt embarrassed and ashamed of her behavior, but she mostly did not want to appear weak in front of her soon-to-be students. She had honestly always dreamed of becoming a teacher. As a child she had imagined herself teaching a classroom full of privileged children at an upscale private school, but she realized that this was a close as she would ever get to fulfill her dream. Being callous and coldhearted was merely a front to prevent herself from snapping and killing Shaw because of his disrespectful attitude. He always acted like a male chauvinistic pig, and Emma was glad to be free of that life.

The rooms were nice and already furnished, and Emma had no trouble finding a vacant one. After unpacking her suitcases, she reverted back to human form. She lay down on her bed and tried to compose herself, hoping to mingle with the other residents later. It would not do to have no friends in the school.

Downstairs, Alex, Sean, and Hank were sitting on a couch, relaxing.

"Erik, Moira, and Raven sure are taking Professor X's death hard," Alex blurted out, breaking an awkward period of silence.

Sean and Hank whipped their heads around to look at him. "Alex!" they both shouted at once. Hank was astounded at Alex's candor, while Sean just shook his head, knowing Alex all too well.

"Erik was Charles's best friend! And Charles and Raven were pretty much brother and sister!" One of Hank's furry blue hands had shot up and was now covering his mouth in astonishment.

"Yes. Xavier was our teacher, and it's a lot different to compare your teacher dying to your best friend or especially your brother dying," Sean pointed out.

Alex's eyes had a glassy quality to them at these words. He had not thought about his own brother in a long time… "What about Moira. She was just Professor X's CIA agent or something." He tried to cover his momentary distancing.

"My theory is that Moira had a crush on Professor X." Sean whispered, conspiratorially. This time, Alex and Hank stared at _him _like he was crazy. They immediately dismissed the notion, and that was the end of that conversation.

Hank did not understand why the two other young mutants were taking Charles's death so lightly. Earlier at the funeral, everyone had been grieving for Charles's loss, but now here those two were, joking and going on with their lives as if nothing had happened. However, Hank recognized that everything had changed. Charles had been more than just a teacher to Hank; he had been more of a mentor to him. Narrowing his eyes at his fellow young mutants, Hank exited the room, leaving to work on Cerebro.

A sudden wave of melancholy washed over Sean. "Professor X would have wanted us to go on with our lives, right? He would have wanted us to live our lives to the fullest." He looked to Alex for guidance. The worldly Alex had been in prison after all; he had all of the answers.

"Yeah. I mean, my parents died when I was younger. Plane crash. And I got over it. I'm a perfectly normal young man now. Who went to jail. And is a mutant."

"Thanks for the pep talk." The two boys sat in silence for a while, before Sean spoke again, "What happened?"

"What?"

"What were you put in jail for? What did you do?"

Alex glared at Sean, who realized that Alex was not ready to share the story with him yet.

"When my powers first manifested, I blew out all of the windows in my house with my sonic scream. My mom burst her eardrums too… What about you?"

"That was it."

"When your powers first manifested, you blew out all of the windows in your house and caused someone to burst their eardrums, too?"

"Why am I even talking to you?" Alex made to get up, but Sean grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the couch.

"No! I was just kidding. Now tell me!" Sean was pleading now, and Alex knew that if he did not tell the redhead now, he would never be able to live it down.

Alex sighed and began his story, one he had never told a soul before now. "After my parents died, I was put into the foster care system. I had no one else to take me in, and I was already fourteen, so they thought it would be better for me than an orphanage. The couple I was put with already had a foster son; he was eight. My real brother had been eight… " That made it twice in one day that he had thought about his younger brother. It had been so long since that fateful day. Alex could still remember his brother's innocent smile, his deep brown eyes, and his messy brown hair. He ran his hands through his own blond hair. There was not much of a family resemblance there. His brother had been the one who looked like their parents. But he should not dwell on the past…

Looking over at Sean, Alex checked to make sure the other boy had not noticed his zoning out, but he need not fear; Sean, too, was deep in thought. He looked up as Alex continued, "Anyway, I was much older than the other foster kid. One day, the foster parents left us alone together—I was babysitting—but we never really got along. At one point—I don't remember what he did—but I got so angry, and this red energy shot out of me, towards him. His arm was vaporized instantly, and there was this huge hole in the wall. There was blood everywhere, and I couldn't do a thing; I was in shock. The neighbors called 911, and the next thing I knew, I was being hauled away by the police, and my foster brother was being carried away in a stretcher."

Next to him on the couch, Sean cringed slightly, disgust evident on his face.

"I couldn't control it. That's when I first got my mutant powers!" Alex felt ashamed by this tragic event, and Sean's negative reinforcement was not helping in the least. His anger had triggered the powers, so in his mind, he felt responsible for his former foster brother's loss of limb.

On the other hand, Sean's face was contorting as he tried to make sense of Alex's words. He finally won out over his disgust and his expression changed into concern. "That's terrible. What a terrible way to have your powers first manifest! Whatever happened to the boy?"

"He lived." But now he only has one arm. He will never become an athlete. He will always be at a disadvantage. Many words went unsaid, but Sean decided that Alex had shared enough. Alex had really opened up after Sean had shared such an insignificant tidbit with him. They both put on fake smiles, and their deep conversation digressed into irrelevant chatter.

In his room, Erik stared at a picture of Charles as a boy. Young Charles's cherubic round face and cute brown hair did nothing to soothe Erik. There was no way to avenge Charles, no one to get revenge against, no one to blame. Except himself! He could not blame Moira because that would be disrespectful to Charles's memory. Erik really needed to find a way to occupy himself before the opening of the school.

Down in the basement, Hank worked diligently on Cerebro while Raven sat cross-legged on the floor. While she wanted to make herself useful, Raven did not understand a thing Hank was doing, so she resigned herself to watching him work.

"Hey Hank, is it hard to hold things with paws?" Raven asked, playfully.

"I'm trying to work, Raven. Don't you have something better to do?" Hank looked down at his furry blue, clawed hands, scowling.

"That was uncalled for!" Erik Lensherr chose that moment to walk in, eyes ablaze. "Never speak to her that way again!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean that. I've just been under a ton of stress lately." Hank wished that he could take back what he had said. Although it was difficult to concentrate while building Cerebro 2.0, he genuinely enjoyed Raven's friendship, and usually her company, also.

"I actually came here to offer my services. Obviously, most of your materials are metal, and my powers _are _over magnetism."

Raven glanced at Erik coldly, quickly leaving the room. Erik's behavior was sending her mixed messages, and she did not yet know if she blamed him or not for Charles's death. At the moment, she wanted to avoid him, although she did not wish to be alone. She had a sudden, babyish urge to stick out her tongue, which she gave in to.

After momentarily staring after the blue-skinned girl, Hank snapped back to reality and turned to Erik. "I actually have a really good idea. The mutant students will need a training area to hone their abilities. Don't ask me why, but on this level, there's an underground bunker. I've created these specs for a high-tech training arena, which I have dubbed the 'Danger Room'."

Grabbing the blueprints from Hank, Erik studied them closely. "You want me to use my control over magnetism to upgrade this bunker?" He felt relieved to finally have a temporary distraction from his grief.

"Yes. If you have any questions, just ask me."

"I have just one—how did you come up with such a lame name?"


	3. Preparations

Author's Note: I'm still disturbed by the lack of reviews, but this time, I'll update anyway. Next chapter will introduce some new students, all from the X-Men movies. The ages may not match up, but this is AU.

Chapter Three: Preparations

It had been nearly two weeks since Charles Xavier's death, and all of the residents of his childhood home, which would shortly open as a school, were stuck in a funk. No one had seen Moira since the funeral; she had retired to her room, and nobody knew how she got meals without anyone noticing.

Erik had stayed up for thirty hours straight, enabling him to finish the Danger Room much more quickly than expected. Since then, he had taken it upon himself to update the manor's security system, with the help of Hank's technology. He stood in the middle of the vast lawns of Xavier Manor, levitating the security cameras into the tall oak trees with his magnetic powers.

Securing the laser-equipped security cameras onto the front gate, Erik finished up the security enhancements. If any untrustworthy people stepped near the school, they would be instantly incinerated by the lasers. The lasers could only be set off manually, from inside the school, if an unknown person attacked, or if the security cameras picked up someone who was a known threat. Erik smiled—he would not let anyone else die on his watch.

The first day he had begun the security updates, Sean and Alex had offered their assistance. At the time, Erik had anticipated explosions and mistakes, and had done his best to politely decline their help, but he ended up yelling at the boys, who had not spoken to him since. Rather than being peaceful and relaxing, the isolation was daunting. It gave him way too much time to think about Charles.

Erik tried to think of other things, but his mind always floated back to Charles—his bright blue eyes, his kindness, his naiveté. Charles had not lived long enough to experience real hurt, sorrow, anguish—the kind of feelings Erik was encountered right at the moment. Breathing deeply, Erik tried to think of a more pleasant subject, other than Charles, but the best he could do was redirect his focus to his happiest memory of Charles. Closing his eyes, Erik could practically see the satellite in front of him as he recalled the time he and Charles stood facing it, both crying and laughing in their joy after Erik made a breakthrough with his powers.

"That's a wonderful memory." Emma Frost walked out onto the front lawn, daintily avoiding any spots of mud on the ground. She was dressed solely in a white robe, which was loosely tied, revealing her cleavage, and matching platform heels.

"You have no right to invade my thoughts!" Erik rounded on Emma, who backed up several inches, but did not let any semblance of fear appear anywhere on her face.

"I did not! You were broadcasting your thoughts so loudly I bet even Moira could hear them."

"Then you need to learn how to control your powers more. Luckily, tonight Hank and I are unveiling the school's newest addition—the Danger Room!"

"What a dreadful name!" Emma seemed bewildered that anyone would give a room such a name. "If it is a school facility, it should be given a proper name."

Erik suddenly felt a need to defend Hank's lame choice for a name. "Well, this is a school, so you should probably get a more… complete wardrobe. You don't work at a strip club anymore."

As Emma scowled, her white lipstick covered lips were reduced to a small, thin line. "You've made your point." She turned around and sauntered back into the school. While she did not appreciate Erik's attitude, Emma recognized that dressing so provocatively would be detrimental to the school environment. But at the moment, they did not have very many students.

Later, everyone gathered downstairs in the dining room for dinner. Somehow, Sean and Alex had coaxed Moira out of her room, and for the first time, she joined the others. Even Emma had been joining them for dinner every night, and Erik had to give her credit for trying to connect with them. He looked around at each face in the room and did not know if they were ready to become part of a school. When he looked over at Raven, who was sitting at the opposite end of the table, she immediately averted her eyes. Sighing, Erik delegated the responsibility of making the announcement to Hank and leaned back in his seat.

"Welcome to the first faculty meeting of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Erik will be the headmaster, so everyone will have to report to him. Erik and I have a very important announcement to make, but that will have to wait until the conclusion. I now have the faculty assignments: Emma, you'll teach English, Moira's teaching history, and I'll teach science, math, and technology." The two women in question nodded politely, although they were unsure why he took so many subjects for himself.

"Let me continue—Alex, you'll be the janitor—"

Alex shot out of his seat and frowned angrily. "What? You've got to be kidding me!"

Hank merely grinned devilishly, and Alex returned to his seat, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Now seriously- have any of you graduated high school yet?" he asked, turning to the younger mutants in the room.

Sean shook his head no. "I would have been going into senior year this fall."

Hank nodded. "So you didn't finish junior year? We'll place you in eleventh grade level classes. Congratulations in being our first student!"

"I should be in junior year, too. I had just finished tenth grade when I was arrested," Alex pointed out, "Even though I'm already eighteen, I never graduated."

"I graduated high school." Raven looked at her two friends, upset that she would not be included in classes with them. "But I don't know enough to teach."

Looking at her kindly, Hank moved over to reassure her. "The school will need a janitor too!"

"Thanks for that, Hank, but it was only funny the first time." She rolled her eyes at him, and then whispered, "When I wasn't the brunt of the joke."

"Well, I'm sure I can add an art class or something to the curriculum, Raven. Now, we are in the process of getting the school accredited, so everyone who attends school here should be able to earn a high school diploma. It's up to you if you want to go on to college afterwards. I will now explain the most important part of the school—training young mutants on how to use their powers. Erik and Emma are the most experienced, so they'll teach this class. When the new students come, Alex, Sean, Raven, and I will be the teaching assistants, but we'll learn at the same time. Emma is also in charge of finding prospective new students with Cerebro."

Emma's confusion was evident on her face. "No one has actually told me what Cerebro is…"

"It's my invention, and it allows a telepath to see the minds of every mutant in the world."

"So that's what amplified Xavier's power so much that I could feel it from so far away." The mention of Charles's name caused a hush to fall over the room. After she realized the cause of the silence, Emma felt plenty stupid. She decided to seal her lips for the rest of night.

"That brings me to my announcement. I have finished building Cerebro 2.0, and it's ready for use! Erik has also finished building the Danger Room, which is our high-tech training room, equipped with guns, flame-throwers, rotating knives, and other astonishing obstacles!" Hank's look of pure giddy startled everyone else in the room, who were staring at him with gaping mouths, concerned with his sanity.

"You're suicidal, aren't you?" Alex asked. "You've taken Professor X's death harder than we thought you did, haven't you?"

This was Erik's cue to get to his feet. "Shut up! You need to mature and take more responsibility if you want this school to work. This 'Danger Room' is necessary for you inexperienced mutants to learn control over your powers!" Stomping away, Erik exited the dining room without a second thought.

Alex stared after Erik, narrowing his eyes. "Some headmaster."

Sean touched him lightly on the shoulder. "He's right, y'know. With Professor X gone, we need to step up," he whispered into Alex's ear. The two of them decided to go upstairs, so they left, too.

Yawning gently, Hank surveyed the remaining people in the room. "I guess our test drive of Cerebro will have to wait until tomorrow, Emma, I'm about ready to go to sleep. See you guys!"

Now, only the women remained—Emma, Moira, and Raven. Raven politely excused herself after finding it quite awkward to be with the two women. Moira and Emma sat staring each other down in contempt, until Moira broke eye contact. The other woman's cold, piercing eyes were unsettling Moira, so she hightailed it out of the dining room.

After everyone had deserted the room, Emma knew that it was the perfect time to visit Cerebro. Such a powerful tool, and from what she had gleaned from Hank's mind, right there in the basement. She slipped out of the room and headed towards the stairs to the basement. Nearby, Moira watched Emma from around the corner, trying to think about rainbows and magical unicorns and jell-O in order to keep Emma from reading her mind. But one thought kept surfacing to the top of her mind—they should never have let her near the school.

Author's Note: Uh oh! What's Emma doing?

If you want a say, leave a review saying which character you want to see being recruited. As long as it's not Wolverine, I'll take your suggestion into consideration. I'm looking for about five characters to add!


	4. Recruiting Begins

Author's Note: It makes me sad that there isn't much response to this story. Here's the next chapter. I've actually been doing a chapter a day! I'm still taking suggestions if you want to see your favorite mutant in the story, but it has to be someone from the X-Men comics or movies!

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma- I'm sorry, but I have no clue what inFAMOUS is, and I have different ideas where it comes to possible romance in this story.

Wing-Mei- I really wanted to add Scott to this chapter, but it would be too much. You might be seeing him next chapter though… ;^)

Bhaavya- I'll add Wolverine to this story, and then kill him off in the next chapter! No, just kidding. I'm still not adding Wolverine though.

Chapter Four: Recruiting

Emma spun around on her feet. Standing before her was none other than Erik Lensherr, flanked on his right side by Moira MacTaggert, the CIA agent. Both looked extremely angry, so Emma put on her best innocent face.

"Cut the crap! We know you used Cerebro! You're standing right next to it!" Erik bellowed.

"I saw you come down here!" Moira pointed at Emma, accusatorially. "I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

Momentarily stunned by the confrontation, Emma took several steps back. She had not expected anyone to find her down there. When she had used her telepathy upstairs, no one had displayed any thoughts of listening to her. All she had picked up were thoughts of rainbows, unicorns, jell-O, and beautiful girls.

"Did you really think that this wouldn't be the most secure room in the whole mansion? There are hidden security cameras everywhere. I'm alerted whenever someone comes into this room, and Moira came to me immediately!" Erik focused his intense glare at Emma. He raised his arm, and with it, a long piece of metal ripped itself off the wall and tangled itself around Emma's body. She immediately changed into diamond form, but she was trapped.

Emma opened her mouth to respond, but Moira spoke first, suggesting, "You should really make a failsafe that shuts Cerebro down every time an unauthorized person tries to use it."

"I did, but Emma is authorized. She's the only telepath currently at the school!"

"Good point…"

"Just let me speak! I can explain myself," Emma erupted, "I wasn't attempting to steal your secrets or anything! I just used Cerebro to get a head start on finding mutant recruits." She pulled a piece of paper out of her robe pocket. "Here's a list of mutants I think would make a good addition to the school. I took the liberty of ordering them by urgency. We can get started first thing tomorrow."

"Hmmm…" Erik eyed her suspiciously, but acquiesced—Hank had named her in charge of recruiting new students. There was no problem with her wanting to make their recruitment process more efficient. "That's sensible."

Moira gaped at Erik. "What? NO! She was sneaking around like a spy!" She turned her attention over to Emma. "Do you have an explanation for why you were sneaking around upstairs?"

"Oh yes, and it's quite simple too—I didn't want to wake up any of the children."

Nodding, Erik agreed, "That's reasonable."

"How can you believe this so easily, Erik? This just isn't like you!" Silently, Moira wondered if he had replaced with a Skrull, or some other kind of shape-shifting alien.

Not wanting to admit that he had been trying to channel Charles's kindness and acceptance, Erik instead said, "We'll see tomorrow whether or not she was lying. For now, I think she can spend the night in the holding cell."

Emma prepared to speak, but once again, Moira cut her off. "What do you mean, holding cell? You built a holding cell inside a school?" She tried to appear bothered by this, but inside she was glad to see the familiar Erik she had come to know.

Erik nodded, taking the list of mutants out of Emma's diamond fingers. He raised his hand, using his magnetic powers to lift the metal wrapped around Emma, which caused her to rise with it. Levitating her out of the room, Erik walked down the hallway where he deposited her in the holding cell.

"I'll be back for you first thing in the morning. Good night." Erik took one last look at Emma and disappeared down the hall.

Moira waited until she was sure he was out of earshot, before she pressed the sound button next to the holding cell, so that Emma could hear her words. "I don't trust you, Frost. This is all your fault!" she spat out at the unsuspecting woman. Moira stomped away before the confused Emma could respond.

What did she mean by that? Emma stared at the other woman's retreating figure, before shrugging it off as misplaced anger because of grief. She knew the feeling and understood that it would be best to leave the other woman alone. Eventually, Moira would get over Xavier's death, although Emma's telepathy told her that Moira had very strong feelings for the late professor. Pushing the metal off of her, Emma freed herself from her confines. She hoped that the others would continue to underestimate her diamond form's strength, but she knew that it would not last long since she had just visibly freed herself from the metal. She sighed and decided to at least try to fall asleep.

The next day, Erik stayed true to his word and came down to the holding cell early in the morning. Emma was slumped on the bench, asleep, but immediately woke up when Erik entered the code to open the cell door.

"Took you long enough. Do you know how uncomfortable it is in here?" Emma began cracking her joints, much to Erik's chagrin. Looking up at him, Emma noticed something interesting. "You're wearing Shaw's ridiculous helmet. I thought you would never wear it again after Xavier's death."

Erik stiffened at the mention of Shaw's name, and then flinched at Charles's. "Do you want to stay in that holding cell for the rest of your life? Never mention Shaw's name again. You should be grateful that I got you out of that situation!"

"I am. I am sincerely grateful. Although I would be more grateful if you let me out. Then, I can get washed up, and we can hit the first, most desperate mutant on that list of coordinates."

"I'll let you come if you wear something more presentable than just a robe, and you stop with the attitude." But he would make her some even if she did not, just so he could keep an eye on her.

"But that's my most endearing quality." She winked at him, getting up and making a point to brush up against him as she slipped out of the cell. "I'll see you soon."

Erik felt an involuntary blush coming to his cheeks, so he turned around to face the wall. The metal of his helmet felt cool against his reddened cheeks. He did not understand why she made him feel weird inside like that; he did not even like her at all, let alone in that way.

Emma and Moira sat next to each other in the backseat of the car. After leaving Hank in charge back at the mansion, it had taken much coaxing on Erik's part to get the two women into the back seat together, but he had finally succeeded. When the two had asked why no one was allowed to sit in the passenger seat, Erik had said something along the lines of "I don't want anyone to distract me while I drive," which each of the women instantly translated into "I don't want to have to use a piece of metal to strangle anyone who annoys me while I drive."

Being stuck in a cramped backseat together was not much of a bonding experience, but after a long, boring period of silence Moira and Emma began speaking to each other.

"So, how's your CIA job going?" Emma asked.

"I took a leave of absence to help out with the school." Moira studied her fingernails intently. "Apparently my mother's just died," she added, bitterly.

The car ride went by very slowly, but soon they arrived at an Upstate New York hospital, where Erik pulled into a parking space. "I can see why this mutant is at the top of your list of the most urgent cases," he said.

They asked for the room number from the nurse at the information desk, pretending to be visitors, and made their way to room 243. Entering the room, Erik shot an incredulous glance at Emma. "Are you kidding me, Emma?" Lying on the bed was a teenage girl with fiery red hair, but she was most obviously in a coma. Her eyes were closed tight, and there were many machines around. She had an IV attached to her arm, and she was on a respirator to breathe. At her bedside, a middle-aged man and a woman sat clutching each others' hands.

Emma also looked shocked. "Is this Jean Grey?" she asked, gesturing to the young teen.

The man answered, "Yes. She's our daughter. Who are you?"

"We're from a school called Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I believe I know what's wrong with your daughter." Emma looked pointedly at Dr. Grey.

His anger flared up as she spoke. "I know what's wrong with my daughter! She's in a coma! She has been for almost three months! I come everyday to visit her, but there still haven't been any changes!"

"Your daughter fell into a coma after her best friend died in a car accident, correct?"

"Yes. How did you know that? Have you seen her medical file?"

"No, I'm a telepath, and I learned that from reading your mind. I believe that your daughter is also a telepath, or perhaps an empath, and she felt her friend's pain as she died. That is what caused her to fall into a coma." Dr. and Mrs. Grey just stared at Emma in incredulity, gaping with their mouths wide open.

"Who let the crackpot into our daughter's hospital room?" Mrs. Grey shouted, whipping her head back and forth.

"Calm down!" Erik commanded. Everyone turned to look at him. "She's telling the truth—she and I are mutants—she's a telepath, and I have the power to control magnetism." He reached forward, causing Mrs. Grey's metal bracelet to slip off her wrist and fly to him.

"I believe them," Dr. Grey said, his eyes twinkling, "Do whatever you want to do to bring her out of the coma. I trust that you won't hurt her." His wife just looked at him like he was crazy. "Elaine," he said in a soothing voice, "I'm not convinced that traditional methods will be able to help our Jeannie." He turned back to Emma. "Go ahead."

Emma touched her middle and pointer fingers to Jean's forehead and seemed to zone out. The girl's parents glanced concernedly from Emma to their daughter, back to Emma again. Suddenly, Emma lost consciousness and began collapsing to the floor. Neither Erik nor Moira made a move to catch her, so Emma landed on the cold linoleum tile with a thud. Instead of moving over to help Emma where she was splayed haphazardly on the floor, Erik and Moira simply eyed her curiously. The girl obviously had a strong psychic mind if she was able to cause Emma to collapse, or Emma was having more trouble than they thought she would have.

Meanwhile, inside Jean's mind, Emma's mental projection of herself walked down a narrow street. Every house was an identical drab shade of gray, save one. This house was at the very end of the street, so Emma headed in that direction. As she walked down the street, the road seemed to stretch so that the house moved even farther away from her than before. Soon, she could not even see the house anymore. A young girl, about five or six, entered Emma's view. She had plain brown hair, and was wearing a white lace dress.

"Jean?" Emma questioned, although she knew that was wrong. The Jean she had seen was at least thirteen years old, and she had the most noticeable red hair.

"Emma." The little girl frowned and tilted her head to the side. "What are you doing here?"

"How do you know my name?" Narrowing her eyes, Emma studied the little girl, who seemed oddly familiar.

The little girl frowned even more and furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm Emma." She pointed to herself. "You're not Emma. Now tell me—what are you doing here? I'm the only one here."

Emma was quite confused at what had happened. Something was very wrong here. Had she entered her own subconscious? Had Jean entered Emma's own subconscious? Was Jean now playing with Emma's own memories?

"You're wrong. I am Emma. You must be Jean." Emma knew the girl looked like she had when she was a little girl, but she refused to accept that possibility. "Stop channeling my memories."

The little girl approached her and grabbed the bottom of Emma's shirt. Feeling an intense burning sensation, Emma looked down to where she had felt the pain. The bottom of her shirt had burned away, and she was left with a large red welt on her stomach, where the girl had burned through a layer of flesh. She tried to remind herself that this was all taking place in Jean's mind, or maybe even her own, and none of it was real, but the pain felt all too real.

"You're right. I'm Jean." When Emma looked up, a lanky redhead was standing before her. "I was just trying to find out why you're here."

"I'm trying to help you, Jean. I'm a mutant, too."

"Well, obviously. I mean, only a telepath could get into here."

"You know what a telepath is? How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen, almost fifteen. And I've seen it in movies." Jean grinned, sheepishly.

Emma looked at her with a serious expression. "Let me take you out of your subconscious and put you back into control of your body."

"It's not that simple. I'm trapped here." Jean gestured around them, and Emma could see that there were metal bars surrounding them in all directions.

"But I got in here, so there must be a way to get out."

Jean ignored her. "When my friend died, I felt like I was dying too! That was the first time I accessed my powers. I nearly died, and now I'm stuck in here! How long has it been? Months, years?"

"Three months. You definitely won't be able to get out of your own subconscious if you don't try."

"You don't think I've tried?" As Jean's fury rose, the ground began shaking and everything around them turned red and fiery. "If you try to go in any direction, your goal just keeps getting farther and farther away!"

Smirking, Emma pointed upwards. "Have you tried that direction, yet?"

Jean looked up at her skeptically, but shook her head. Was Emma insinuating that Jean could fly? She concentrated hard on flying. When that did not work, she pictured lifting Emma up into the air with her mind. Emma began floating into the air, and Jean grinned. She then tried to picture lifting herself into the air, but it was too complicated, so she just grabbed onto Emma's leg. Emma pulled Jean with her as she floated upward. They began rising into the air, and when they reached the metal bars of the cage, Emma changed into diamond form and pulled two bars apart with all of the force she could muster.

Erik, Moira, and Jean's parents watched as Emma sat up suddenly from her position on the floor. "Did it work? Don't answer that—it must have because I'm awake now!" She looked down to her stomach, which was unharmed and still covered by her shirt.

"Dad… Mom…" Jean tried to push herself up, weakly, but it was all futile because her parents immediately rushed over and lightly pushed her back down onto the hospital bed.

"Don't try to get up. It will take a little while for you to regain your strength before you're able to move around like before." Dr. Grey pushed the red call button to signal a nurse to some in. He turned to Emma, Erik, and Moira. "I think it's time for you three to leave, but we will definitely consider sending Jean to your school once she has recovered fully. Right now, we need to spend time with her, though. Thank you so much!"

As the nurses rushed in, Erik, Moira and Emma made their exit. Erik turned to Emma. "What happened in there?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't pretend to know the intricacies of the human mind." Emma smirked at him. "But at least I got her out."

"How were you able to get her out of the coma?"

"I had this hunch that she had telekinesis as well as telepathy," Emma replied, "But she really needs to learn how to control her powers. If she had known how, none of this would ever have happened."

Erik gave up on getting a straight answer from Emma about what had just happened with Jean, so he redirected the conversation to another important matter, "Do we have enough time to try recruiting another mutant, or should we return to the mansion first?"

Moira shrugged. "Emma should be making this decision. Surprisingly, she did a good job today, and she may have exhausted her telepathic powers."

"I'm fine. The next person shouldn't require as much telepathy. I don't think anyone on this list is stuck in a telepathy induced coma." Emma giggled at the absurdity of it. "The next most urgent is in New York City right now. I may have to use my powers to locate him though…"

"Why?"

"He's a runaway currently living on the streets of Manhattan. I don't think he'll need much convincing to come with us."

But Erik knew that people like that were not as trusting as the average person. They could have trouble convincing this next person to come to their school, and they had not actually gotten a definite answer from the Greys. Still, Erik wanted to continue the recruitment attempts—it was better than sitting around at the mansion, wallowing in guilt and sorrow.

*Preview to next chapter: Erik, Moira, and Emma try to recruit Scott. Will they need another member whose specialty is emitting energy blasts? Will they be successful? The only way to tell is to read the next chapter of Magneto's School for Gifted Youngsters.*


	5. Confrontations

Author's Note: It's fun re-imagining the origins of the X-Men characters if they were found by Erik and not Charles! On a side note, will someone please tell me if it's better to use contractions or not in the narration part of a story? I've never taken a creative writing class, and my school English class focuses on proper essay writing, which uses no contractions. Thanks in advance!

This chapter is for you, Wing-Mei. It's full of Scott-ness! In fact it's mainly Scott!

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma: I'll try to keep to my daily schedule as best I can!

Chapter Five: Confrontations

"Over there!"

Emma pointed to a scrawny young boy, who was sitting on the sidewalk, wedged up by a wall. His brown hair was dirty, matted, and tangled, and the rest of his body was equally filthy. The shiny red sunglasses covering his eyes were the only thing on his person not dirty.

"Those are some pretty slick shades for a street kid."

Erik's voice startled the boy, who shot up into the air.

"I didn't steal them or nothing," the boy said defensively, "I got them before I ran away." He moved his grubby arms so that they were covering his chest.

"How old are you?" Moira asked, gently.

"What's it to you?"

Moira responded by looking at him with sad eyes, so the boy decided to answer.

"Twelve."

"Where'd you run away from?" Moira asked, looking at the boy kindly.

"Why'd you run away from a place that gave you such nice glasses?" Erik asked, judgmentally.

The boy did not answer, merely averting his eyes from the adults. He grabbed all of his belongings, which consisted of a worn and torn backpack and a ragged blanket, and made to sprint away, but Erik blocked his way.

"Where do you think you're going, Slim? How about I offer you a warm meal and a place to wash up, and go from there?"

"Slim" eyed the three adults suspiciously, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He nodded in assent and did what children should never ever do—followed the strangers into their car—but why would three adults want to kidnap a street kid like him?

They sat at the kitchen table of the mansion. Luckily, all of the younger mutants were doing their own thing, and none had bothered them. Moira was standing up, fixing Slim a meal—Erik was never one for cooking, and he needed Emma to do her telepathy thing.

"So, Scott…" Emma looked at the boy in question, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mention of his name.

"How do you know my name?" Scott knew that he had stepped into something that was way bigger than just him. He looked down to see if his name was somehow apparent on his body, but he since his two hour long shower, he looked like a completely different boy. His hair and skin were now clean, and his clothes, borrowed from one of the boys, were way oversized on him, but for the first time in so long, clean.

"I can read your mind. You're not the only one who is special."

"I'm not special." He looked down at his hands, ashamed. "I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak. You have a mutation that causes you to have a power—it's a gift. Can you show me your gift?"

"No, it's too destructive. Bad things always happen when I use my powers." He fingered the sides of his sunglasses nervously as Emma watched.

"Do those glasses have something to do with your mutation?"

"I thought you said you can read my mind. Why should I believe you, if you don't even know why I wear the glasses?"

Emma touched her fingers to the side of her fingers, surreptitiously. "You seem to have created telepathic barriers that distort access to that part of your brain."

At that moment, Scott decided to pretend he knew what she was talking about. "Fine. These ruby quartz glasses are the only thing keeping my eyes from blowing up the side of this gigantic house. I can't control my powers at all." He eyed Emma and Erik suspiciously, as if wondering how they would use this information. Finally finishing the meal preparations, Moira deposited a steaming hot plate in front of Scott.

"If you have those glasses, then someone else must know that you are a mutant. Where'd you get the glasses, Slim?" Erik leaned in close to the boy. He had an eerie feeling concerning the glasses.

"The doctor gave them to me when I was at the orphanage in Omaha. He said they would cure my headaches. The headaches were nothing new. I've gotten them for as long as I can remember. Ever since I woke up from a coma in that hospital, and the doctors said I suffered brain damage from a plane crash. That's why I can't remember anything clearly that happened before."

Concern was evident on Moira's face. "Do you remember anything? Did you have a family?"

"I think we lived in Alaska, or someplace else cold, but I'm not sure…I miss my family though…My whole family was in the plane. I know this, but I can't remember what my parents looked like or what happened. The people at the hospital told me my parents died…"

He tried to picture his parents, but all he ended up with was a memory of two blurry faces looking down at him. Tears began forming on Scott's eyes, but he willed them not to fall down. Moira saw his watery eyes and wanted to comfort the young boy, but she held herself back and allowed him to continue.

"I had an older brother, too. We didn't get along good. We didn't talk much after the crash before he went to live with a new family. They didn't want a boy with brain damage, so I went to live at the orphanage.

"Why did you run away from the orphanage, and how did you get all the way to New York from Nebraska?" Erik resumed his very forward questioning.

The boy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "I think I've said enough. This isn't an interrogation or anything, is it? Thanks for the food and the shower. Can I leave now?" He only nibbled at the chicken breast on his plate, but he did not want to get sick by eating too much. Then, there would have been no point in eating as it would all come right up again.

"Where would you go? You have nowhere to stay. If you just answer our questions, you'll have a place here at our school for mutants."

"Are you offering me food and place to stay long-term for free?" Scott narrowed his eyes apprehensively. "Somehow, I don't believe you."

He grabbed his bag and stood up, but Alex and Sean chose that moment to enter the kitchen.

"I'm soooooo hungry," Alex whined, but with one look at Scott, his entire body froze. Scott also stopped moving, and he stared at Alex in disbelief.

Sean looked at his friend, who was not moving at all, and followed his gaze over to the boy standing in the middle of the kitchen. "Who're you?" he asked the boy.

"Scott."

"What's you're last name?" Alex knew that it was too good to be true, but he let himself ask the question anyway.

"Summers. My name is Scott Summers."

Alex ran over to Scott and threw his arms around his long lost brother. "SCOTT! I thought you were dead!" he shouted, while everyone in the kitchen, including Scott, stared at him like he had lost his mind.

Scott struggled to free himself from Alex's grip. "Get off of me, you psycho!"

"I think you should let go of him, Alex," Sean suggested, looking at the strangled boy.

A blast of red light filled the kitchen, coming from the place where Alex was giving Scott a bear hug. The surrounding people covered their faces with their arms, shielding their eyes from the red glare.

"Alex!" Erik shouted. "Don't destroy the kitchen, and why are you trying to incinerate our potential new recruit?"

"It's not me!" Alex shouted over the sound of energy crackling and dishes breaking.

Scott Summers fell to his knees, shutting his eyes. The red energy dissipated, and everyone proceeded to stare at him.

"Okay, so to recap—Scott has the same power as Alex except from the eyes, and he has the same last name as Alex, too. Interesting…" Everyone turned to Sean, who was grinning broadly. "We've found ourselves in the middle of a surprise family reunion!"

Moira walked over to where Alex was sitting on the ground. "Are you okay, Alex?" She reached her hand towards him, but he slapped it away.

"I'm fine. His blasts didn't hurt me. I guess we use the same kind of energy or something, so we can't hurt ourselves or each other with it. I'd like to know why he tried to hurt me though."

Everyone looked at Scott, who had replaced his ruby quartz glasses over his eyes and was now gazing at Alex with fury. He sprinted towards Alex and tackled him to the ground. Then, he proceeded to pound Alex's chest with his fists. Everyone else backed away from the two and left the room, determined not to interfere in their personal matter.

Once they were outside, Moira pulled Erik aside, to where no one else could hear them.

"Once Jean joins the school, we can get rid of Emma. There'll be no need for two telepaths."

Erik gave her a disgusted look. When it came down to it, he would rather have Emma, a mutant, on the staff than an ungrateful human. "We? You're not even a mutant. Emma is staying. This school needs as many teachers as possible." Also, Emma made him feel things that he could not explain, but he was not about to voice that. "We don't want Emma going back to her old ways."

Moira's expression made her dismay evident. She already felt like the third wheel, and the mansion just reminded her of Charles's death everyday. It was painful just to stay there. "Fine. But if you want her to stay, I'm out of here."

Erik's cold eyes told her all she needed to know. He had a momentary feeling of guilt at pushing away the person who Charles had embraced so easily, but just the sight of her brought back depressing thoughts of his late friend. Effortlessly, Erik pushed away any doubts and waved her goodbye.

"I'll be gone by the end of the day." She stalked away, glad to finally be leaving the mansion that was so full of memories.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Scott continued beating on Alex.

"You knew I was alive! I remember you coming to visit me one last time in the hospital—you said that you would write to me at least once a week, and call that many times too, but you never wrote, and you never called!"

Seemingly stunned, Alex just lay there while Scott hit him on the chest. "That's weird because I swear I don't remember that. The last time I saw you was when mom and dad pushed us out on our separate parachutes, and then yours caught fire. I thought that you died because you fell to the ground much faster than you should have."

Leaping off of his brother, Scott clutched at his head. "No! No! That's not right!" Scott shouted, "We were strapped to the same parachute. I was strapped onto you, and… I'm not even going to discuss this! You obviously suffered from brain damage too! I'm out of here." He walked away from his brother, who was still lying on the ground.

"WAIT! I'm sorry, Scott, for whatever happened." Alex sprung to his feet. "Will you ever forgive me, Scott?"

"I've been living on the streets for two years. Do you think I'll ever forgive you?"

Alex's eyes flew wide open. No one would ever want their own brother to go through something like that. He went over to Scott and wrapped his arms around the younger boy, gently. "If it's any consolation, I was in jail for almost two years."

Always with the greatest timing, Erik walked in, putting an end to the brotherly moment.

"Slim, you still need to finish answering the questions!" He waved an arm at Alex. "Bigger Summers, you can wait outside. He'll hopefully still be here later."

With one last look at the brother he had not seen in years, Alex exited the room, slipping past Emma, who was standing in the doorway.

"Did you think that you could resume the questioning without me?" She smirked at Erik and daintily sat down in the seat next to him.

Frowning, Erik had a severe look in his eye. "I have this theory that you ran into another mutant in Omaha. An evil mutant, who gave you those glasses, but also caused you to run far away from that place." He wondered if this was true, or if he was just dwelling too much on his own childhood. Erik's thoughts were interrupted by Emma's voice.

"So, Scott, why _did _you run away from the orphanage?" Emma leaned in towards Scott, her eyes more serious than they had ever been.

At that moment, Scott looked less like a hardened runaway, and more like the frightened little boy he was inside. "I wasn't happy there. No one wanted to adopt a brain damaged boy, and I only had one friend. And he creeped me out a lot."

"The real reason, Scott." Emma said, patiently.

"Those are the reasons!"

"The _real _reason, Slim." Erik leaned in until he was in Scott's personal space, and the boy shrank back.

"There was a monster in the orphanage's basement; a sinister monster, and at night, it would come into my room and take me downstairs to experiment on me! I told my friend, but he laughed at me. None of the adults at the orphanage believed me. They all dismissed me! But no one should have dismissed me when I said there was a monster in the basement doing sinister experiments!" A dark look passed over Scott's face, and both Erik and Emma felt chills traveling through their bodies.


	6. Darkness

Author's Note:

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma: As always, thanks for your review! Yep, Scott's here now, and soon he'll be training to control his powers! His odd warning is also touched on in this chapter. I wonder what he meant… Also, I'm sorry, but this week is really hectic for me, so I may not be able to update everyday. I'll try to make up for it on the weekend though!

Azura Tyrant: I don't want to seem desperate, but thank you so much for reviewing! It's great to see someone new review! I hope this chapter meets your expectations.

Chapter Six: Darkness

Erik grabbed Emma by the elbow and dragged her roughly out of the kitchen. Once he found a quiet spot in a deserted hallway, he spun around to face her.

"Well?"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Well, what?"

"Is this monster just a delusion of his, or is it something more?"

"I don't know. You think I could have gotten that from his mind? All I can see are his thoughts and memories, and as he spoke, an image of a very creepy monster kept popping up. I'm not entirely convinced that it's real, but he at least believes so. Maybe we should consult a child psychologist?"

"I'm glad for your concerns for the boy, but you had no moral qualms about reading his mind without permission, so why are you so eager to call a doctor?"

"Maybe it was the intense panic and fear he felt just thinking about that 'monster'! I could feel his thoughts. I am a telepath, as I'm sure you're aware of, and I felt his fear with him."

Erik studied her face, but decided that she was telling the truth. He stayed silent, giving Emma another chance to speak.

"We can take Scott back to the orphanage and go down to the basement with him. Once he sees that there is nothing to fear there, he will get over it."

"For a second there I thought you weren't completely cold, Emma," said Erik, looking at the smirking woman, "But I guess you haven't changed at all…"

Quirking her eyebrow, Emma moved closer to Erik until she had completely violated his personal space. She had moved in to a point where her nose nearly touched his as she gazed into his eyes. Wrapping her arms around the back of his head, she took his helmet off and began playing with his hair. Erik made no attempt to stop her, feeling an odd butterfly sensation in the pit of his stomach, and letting her bring her lips to his ear.

"Let me show you Scott's thoughts," she whispered into his ear.

A wave of pain shot through Erik's head, causing him to clutch at it. Unfamiliar pictures began flashing through his vision, but he could not comprehend what he was seeing. Finally the pictures began slowing down and his vision focused on one—there was a still, dark room, full of bunk beds. Everyone else was asleep, but his forehead was pounding, and sleep was nowhere in sight for him. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, coming closer and closer, getting louder and louder, but there was nowhere to hide; he was supposed to be in bed and would get in trouble if he was not.

"Scott!" A cold voice cried out. It was oddly feminine, but at the same time, he knew it belonged to a man. Menacing red eyes entered his view. The red eyes and the red jewel on its forehead contrasted greatly with its stark white skin, and it was grinning eerily. He tried to squirm away and hide in his sheets, but it was to no avail. Icy cold fingers closed around his wrists and began tugging.

"No! Get away from me!"

He struggled against his captor, but his weak kicks and jerking motions did not phase the white-skinned monster. He needed to breathe, but each breath was a terrible labor. He was shaking against the monster, but it did not care. Finding himself carried through the hallways, helpless to do anything, was an unpleasant feeling, but the panic that set in when they descended into the basement, and he found himself in a well-equipped laboratory was even worse.

At last, the monster stepped into the light, and he could finally see its every feature—the blood red eyes and jewel were accompanied a sinister smile, and flat black hair adorned its head. Its stark white skin was stretched over sharp cheekbones as it leered over him with a needle full of a pale yellowish liquid, as Shaw leaned over him holding a scalpel. The memory was correcting itself—he was not Scott, he was Erik!

"Get off of me!" Erik shoved Emma against the opposing wall of the hallway. "Get out of my head!" As her head knocked against the wall, the memories cut short. He lifted the helmet off the floor, where Emma had put it, and replaced it on his head.

"What's wrong?" Emma's eyes were wide, and fright was apparent in her face. She changed into diamond form and removed herself from his grip. Her eyes were filled with concern, and that disgusted Erik.

"You know what's wrong! Those memories you were showing me!"

She was confused and frowned at Erik. "Scott's memories? I told you they were unsettling!"

"Not those! I'm talking about my memory of Shaw you added at the end!" With a wave of his hand, a metal light fixture unattached itself from the wall and flew at Emma, who reflexively ducked. The fixture crashed into the wall, causing a resounding sound and a large dent. He changed the direction of the fixture so it went towards where Emma was now standing, glittering and glistening in diamond form.

Scott sprinted out of the kitchen and headed in the direction of the noise. He was unfamiliar with the mansion, but the commotion was loud enough that it was not too complicated to follow. He rounded the last corner, and he found himself watching Erik attack Emma.

"Erik, I did not add any memory of Shaw in with Sc—Oh, hi Scott!"

The slender brown-haired boy shifted uncomfortably, and then his expression broke into a grin. "Don't stop on account of me!"

"Slim, why don't you go off and find Alex? We'll talk later."

Erik's stern look seemed to convince Scott, who ran off down the hall, but once he turned the corner, he pressed his back up against the wall. He leaned in the direction of the hallway where he had just come from and strained his ears just in case Erik and Emma were speaking in hushed tones, but all he heard was an icy silence.

"Scott, I know you're still there. We can wait all day if we have to."

Scott sank down the wall, finally remembering about the beautiful, blonde telepath. He decided that it was of no use to stay there, so he went off to explore the mansion. He had never been inside a mansion before.

Emma returned to diamond form as she studied Erik. "Your mind obviously equated Scott's experiences with your own. It found both the experiences to be similar, so _you_ unconsciously grouped your memories with his. I wasn't even inside your memories; I was merely sharing the memories I borrowed from Scott with you."

Erik proceeded to glare at Emma distrustfully, but he had no proof to back up his suspicions, so for now he would give her the benefit of the doubt. "So, those were memories, and not delusions?"

"I didn't mean that. What I am saying is that he certainly remembers events transpiring that way, and the monster seemed to be very detailed in his memory. It wasn't just some menacing shadow."

"So the boy—Alex's brother—is either highly delusional, or sane, but mentally scarred by years of experimentation and being a street kid? I really don't think we should take him to the orphanage to confront his fears. He might freak out if he thinks we're returning him there." The more he thought about it, the more likely that scenario seemed.

"You have a point. Why don't all the adults go instead? I'll even accept Moira's company." She cringed, but it was more jokingly than anything.

Frowning, Erik focused his intense stare on her. "Moira's leaving. She's either gone right now, or she's upstairs packing. I thought you would know that, being a telepath and all." His eyes studied her intently, as if searching for a sign that she was not who she said she was.

"Contrary to your beliefs, Lensherr, I don't use my telepathy on everyone and all times!" Emma huffed, and then added in a small voice, "And I can't use my telepathy while I'm in diamond form. My diamond form blocks me from using telepathy and others from using telepathy on me."

"I promise I'm done attacking you. You can change back into human form."

Emma did as she was told, and she was back to her white clad, blonde-haired self. "Fine. I'll get ready for our Nebraska trip—"

Right now, Erik was not feeling very trusting of Emma. "You're not coming! Stay here with Scott and Raven, wherever she is. I'll take Alex and Sean." Emma looked offended at being dismissed like that, so Erik added sarcastically, "It'll be a good male bonding experience."

"What about Hank?"

"He's in charge!"

Emma's mouth bobbed open and closed for a few moments, before she regained the ability to speak. Erik was glad to have finally broken her normally calm and confident manner; it made him feel powerful. "You can't just boss me around like this!" Emma protested.

"I'm headmaster, and you're just a teacher. I'll let you use Cerebro to find more recruits while I'm gone, but please consult Hank first!" He left Emma just standing there in the hallway, while he called for Hank, Alex and Sean, who sped over readily.

"What is it? Where's Scott?" Alex looked around eagerly, but his little brother was nowhere in sight.

Hank looked thoroughly perplexed. "Who's Scott? Did we get a new recruit without you telling me?"

"Yeah. He's Alex's little brother and he just got here today." Sean jabbed his thumb in Alex's direction, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep. Where is the runt?" He turned to Erik. "You said I could spend time with him…"

"You will be able to, but right now, we have a mission. It's potentially dangerous, so I need you all to listen carefully." With the word "dangerous", each of the young men's ears perked up, and they leaned in interestedly.

"Go ahead."

"Hank, you're in charge of the mansion. This involves making sure both Scott and Emma stay out of trouble. If either one does anything, you're at fault. You can also try to cheer Raven up, but that's not required."

"Okay." The furry blue mutant turned around to leave, but Erik stopped him. Erik removed his treasured helmet and placed it awkwardly on Hank's furry, oversized head.

"Don't trust Emma," he whispered into Hank's ear. Hank nodded gravely and ran off to look for Scott before the young boy got into any trouble.

Erik turned to the two other young men. "All right, we are going on a mission. It's long distance, so we're going to need the plane."

The two young mutants gave him equally bewildered looks. Sean spoke up first, "I know Hank rebuilt the Blackbird, and it's even better than before, but he's still the only one who knows how to pilot the thing."

"Alex, do you know how to fly a plane? Your dad was a pilot, after all." Erik glanced at Alex, who shook his head.

"I was never interested in flying, especially after the plane crash. Scott has always been interested though; dad always let Scotty sit in his lap and pretend to pilot. Maybe ask him?" Alex smirked at the look of annoyance on Erik's face.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sean, you're in charge. Get Hank and make sure he gives you the helmet. Don't lose it!" Sean's look of pure ecstasy at being left in charge was almost enough to cause Erik to take it back, but he decided that the sonic screamer could handle the mansion for the rest of the day. Especially since Raven was somewhere in the house and would probably finally be forced into action if Sean screwed up too badly.

When Hank finally returned, helmet-less, and with an odd look focused at Erik, the three mutants headed to the Blackbird. When everyone was strapped in, with Hank at the controls, the furry blue pilot looked back at Erik. "Where to?"

"Omaha, Nebraska."

The plane touched down on an Omaha landing strip, hours later. Erik and Alex had already removed their protective straps, but Hank was struggling with his restraints.

"What's the matter, Hank? Opposable thumbs not working? Why don't you try your opposable toes?" Alex taunted.

Hank growled at the blond-haired man, but there was no way for him to attack Alex while he was still stuck in his seat. He bared his teeth and prepared to chomp, when Erik spoke up.

"Don't bite your seatbelt off; you're going to need it later. I'm afraid that you're going to have to stay in the plane for the duration of our visit—it's more of a covert mission." Erik smirked as his eyes ran over the very conspicuous mutant. "Come on, Alex. We'll see you later, Hank."

"Bye," Alex shot back towards Hank, but all he got in response was a low growl.

They rented a car from the airport, and they drove in Omaha for about a half an hour before they arrived at the orphanage where Alex's brother spent part of his childhood. It was a slightly rundown building, with peeling pink paint, but there was a small play set in front, and young children were laughing and playing on it. There were some kids who were sulking to the side, but the majority was playing. A couple of older kids stood watching the younger children, and they eyed Erik and Alex suspiciously.

Erik and Alex just ignored the older kids' stares and proceeded to enter the orphanage. A small, young Asian woman with a kind round face stood up as they entered, and walked over to greet them.

"Hello! I'm Miss Ko. Are you looking to adopt?" They shook their head no, but Miss Ko seemed insistent. "These children are always looking for homes, and I always try to teach them to respect same sex relationships."

Alex and Erik just stood there looking at each other awkwardly for a little while, before Erik finally regained his capacity for speaking. "Oh no! We're not together! You have the wrong idea. Actually, this kid's brother remembered that he left something in the basement before they were adopted, and since we're out of state, it's taken us a while to come down here to collect it," Erik lied flawlessly.

"Oops! Sorry for the misunderstanding! I'm in charge here, but I've been here for a fairly short amount of time, a little under two years. I guess that's why I don't recognize you, young man! I'll show you to the basement, but as far as I know, it's always been used for storage and no children have ever been allowed down there!"

Alex chuckled hollowly. "Well, you know my brother, what a troublemaker!" He still had no idea why they had come to his brother's old orphanage. For all he knew, it was for the exact reason Erik had just told the woman. Alex sincerely doubted it, but it could be true. Someone really needed to teach Erik some communication skills—here Alex was, in an unfamiliar state, without a clue as to why, because Erik had not told him.

"Here's a flashlight!" The woman suddenly placed a flashlight in Alex's hands. He gave her an odd look, so she explained, "The basement light's burnt out. Also, forgive me, but the basement really creeps me out, so I'll just stay up here! Good luck finding your brother's thing!"

Alex nodded and held the flashlight out in front of him, switching it on. The battery on the flashlight was almost out, so the light it gave off was an eerie orange color. He thrust the flashlight into Erik's hands and pushed the older mutant down the basement stairs first.

Erik chuckled. "Is big, strong Alex afraid of the dark?" But inside, he was wondering if that sinister monster that Scott spoke of was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm not sure, but maybe we should have brought Hank."

Author's Note:

Wing-Mei: I delayed the end just for you! Mwahahahahahahahaha! Also, there's another part that is just for you! ;^)

For everyone else- If you read X-Men comics, I'm sure you can figure out who this "monster" is. If you don't, do not fear, because it will be revealed eventually, and I'll explain it.

If you have any questions about my story, you can PM me or review, and I'll answer (unless you ask me to give something away)!


	7. Sinister

Author's Note: You know something's wrong when your own story starts freaking you out!

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma: That's not odd. Beast would look beast in the helmet! (Sorry, couldn't help it)

Wing-Mei: Wing-Mei!

SOphIe: Consider Nightclawer done. You'll be seeing him very soon. ;^) I'm not sure how I would bring Azazel and Riptide into the story, seeing as they already refused to join, but I guess Azazel could come visit his second cousin (It wouldn't make sense for Nightcrawler to be Azazel's son in this story). I also really like Charles, but he had to go!

Chapter Seven: Sinister

"Something makes me think that this room isn't used for storage," Alex supplied, helpfully. The basement was almost completely bare, save for a sole wooden table in the middle of the room.

"I think you may be right." Erik moved over to the table and picked up the piece of paper that was pinned down onto it. There was a note written, which read:

_Dearest Scott,_

_I have always known that you would return to me. It was my hope to stay here and wait for you, but alas, it would be foolish to stay in one place. Do not worry, for I will come back for you! I do know that you are here. I am quite sorry, but you most definitely will not find anything here. _

_Sincerely,_

_Mr. Sinister_

_P.S. If you are reading this, and you are not Scott, I will know!_

Alex had moved until he had a good view of the note from over Erik's shoulder. "Well, this is ominous." Shifting on his feet, Alex rubbed his forehead in frustration. "What has my little brother gotten into?"

"Scott is a very special young man." Miss Ko's voice wafted down from the top of the stairs, but instead of being soft and kind, it was cold and hard—a voice that Erik recognized.

"You're Scott's monster?" He tried to activate his magnetic powers, but found that he could no longer move or otherwise access his powers. As he attempted to open his mouth, he discovered his newfound inability to speak. He still heard Miss Ko's footsteps as she descended farther into the basement, but he was unable to do anything or even communicate with Alex, who seemed similarly frozen. Alex, though, was just suffering from shock.

"Do not panic, Erik. I've merely cut off your brain signals from the rest of your nervous system. You really should have brought that ludicrous helmet of yours." Miss Ko stepped forward into the flickering orange glow of the flashlight, but it was no longer Miss Ko. It looked nothing like Miss Ko; its shoulders were broad, and it had the physique of a very tall, muscular man. Scott's monster now stood before them, its stark white skin an eerie orange because of the dim flashlight. It smiled, displaying two rows of razor-sharp teeth. The monster's piercing red eyes darted back and forth between Alex and Erik, before settling in Alex's direction.

"Alex! How…wonderful! If I had known how powerful you would become, I would have kept you too!" It eyed Alex predatorily, its teeth somehow glistening in the dim light.

"What are you talking about, you freak? I've never seen you before! I'm sure I would have remembered that ugly mug of yours any day!" Alex put on his toughest looking face and clenched his fist tightly, ready to pounce on the monster that apparently stalked his brother.

"Tsk, tsk, Alex. I care very deeply for Scott. More so than you do, apparently. You should have checked your facts before you so readily believed that your beloved brother had perished." The monster taunted Alex, moving closer towards him. "And how can you attack me, when you can't even move?"

A chill passed through Alex's body, and he found himself in the same situation as Erik was in—trapped in his own unresponsive body. He was thinking that now would have been a good time to have had a telepath with them. His thoughts first flickered to Professor X, but he instead concentrated on projecting his thoughts to Emma.

Erik, on the other hand, was waiting to join Charles on the other side. He wanted the monster to skip the evil villain speech and go right to the killing. It was good fighting the good fight—however brief his tenure was, but his was ready to see his best friend again. And he would much rather die a painful, semi-heroic death, than one of boredom. Unfortunately for Erik, the monster had other plans.

The monster chuckled as he stroked Alex's face. "Let me explain something to you—I am not what you call a mutant. I was once a normal man, but I was not happy with my pitiful existence—it was just that, an existence. As a geneticist, I had always been interested in evolution. The world is survival of the fittest, and as a mere human, I was inherently weaker than any mutant. Mutants are the next stage of evolution, and I wanted to be up there in that next stage. I wanted something greater, so I experimented on myself! I made myself into something great! I improved myself using my own genius intellect; I heightened my strength and gave myself great powers, such as telepathy and telekinesis. I was reborn as Mr. Sinister! I have other powers, but your minds are to narrow to understand them." He scoffed at the two mutants. Erik mentally begged Mr. Sinister to stop his boring speech and just kill them already. Sinister looked at Erik, smiling, his teeth as sharp as ever. "No, no. I still have use for you alive. Besides, it's no fun to kill an enemy that wants to die."

Alex began panicking. Did that weird Mr. Sinister guy-woman-being think that he was suicidal? He definitely did not want to die, not right after he had been reunited with his brother! He wondered if Mr. Sinister was just going to keep them frozen like this as trophies or something. Cringing at the thought, he resumed trying to get in contact with Emma, mentally, even though he was aware that he was well out of her range.

"Good bye, young mutants. Don't worry, we _will _meet again."

"Ughhh…" Alex groaned. "My head is killing me."

"You think you're head is killing you now?" Erik snapped from underneath Alex. "If you don't get the hell off of me within the next second, I will magnetically rip your head off!"

"Um…you can do that?"

Erik turned his piercing glare towards Alex, who immediately leapt off of the older mutant.

"Are you okay down there?" A sweet voice called down—Miss Ko, "I heard a loud crash!"

At her voice, Alex felt a cold shiver running through his skin, which was odd because she had been nothing but kind and courteous to them so far. He called up back to her, "We're fine! I just tripped on my way down the steps. You should really look into getting your light replaced."

Just then, the flashlight that Erik was holding flickered off, the battery dying. He frowned at the flashlight. "I could have sworn there was more battery in here before… The light looked like it could last at least a half hour."

Two new batteries plopped down next to Erik. He looked up to where Miss Ko was standing, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry! I just found them."

Erik slid the batteries in and turned on the flashlight. "This isn't much of a storage area. The only thing here is a table—nothing on it, nothing under it. I guess this was a waste of time. Let's get back to where we left Hank."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. He's probably really bored."

As they exited the orphanage, Miss Ko stood watching, her red eyes agleam.

When Erik and Alex arrived at the airfield, they found that the Blackbird was nowhere to be found. Alex let out a stream of curses, but stopped when Erik directed a hard look in his direction. Erik went inside they airport and found a pay phone.

"Hello?" Sean answered.

"Where's Hank?"

"He came back a little while ago. He's pretty mad, said you should take a commercial flight home. Um…he said that you can take a cab back from JFK, but I'll come pick you up with the car if you want…"

"It's fine. We'll survive." Erik decided to wait until he returned to the mansion to punish Hank for his rash behavior. Soon there would be two mutants benched—Emma and Hank.

Alex had been waiting impatiently for Erik to finish the call. When Erik approached, Alex was still sulking. "Well?"

"We need to take a commercial flight. It looks like there's a direct one in two hours, so we'll just have to wait."

Alex turned to Erik, surprised at his accepting attitude, and saw the glint of malice in the other mutant's eyes. Smirking, Alex knew that they were going to get back at Hank, sooner or later.

Meanwhile, in the mansion's basement, Hank shivered as he stood next to Emma, who was wearing the Cerebro helmet.

"I have my eye on this mutant." Emma pointed at a fresh set of coordinates, newly printed out. "He's a German mutant, and he has no real family. He'll probably jump at the chance to come to our mutant school in the U.S."

Hank looked at her uneasily. "Won't there be a language barrier? Are you sure we should do this without Erik? I'm not that mad at him! I mean, I've already gotten back at him by leaving them stranded in Nebraska."

"You think he won't retaliate? Right when he gets back, you're going to be the target of his fury. You, not me. The best thing to do at this point is to get out of the country as fast as you can! The farther away you are, the safer you are!"

"But Erik is the only one of us who knows German!"

"I'm sure the mutant knows how to speak English. Furthermore, Erik might not be ready to return to Germany so soon after the Holocaust. It might be in his interest for us to go without him."

Shifting uncomfortably, Hank eyed Emma warily. "How do I know that you aren't planting subconscious suggestions in my head?" He had been afraid to voice this concern for the entire conversation, but he had finally mustered up the courage to ask. Everything he said seemed more confident now that he looked like a beast, but inside, he was still the same awkward scientist as before.

"I guess the only way is to get the helmet from Sean…"

"Fine! I'll go, but only if you promise not to force me to stay in the Blackbird during the entire adventure."

"I promise. You'll fit right in at the circus anyway!" Emma giggled as Hank attempted to growl menacingly. "You're growling act needs some work. How're your cartwheels and handstands?"

"I think I'm ready to go. But I have one more condition. You can't talk for the whole plane ride, or I'll eject you. No warnings either. You only have one chance!" Hank smirked. "Okay, now I believe you. I'm definitely in control here."

Hours later, Alex and Erik stumbled into the entrance of the mansion, tired from their journey. They found Sean, Scott, and Raven sitting on the floor of one of the rooms, playing monopoly. They were giggling away, even Raven, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"Oh, hi guys!" Raven called out, spotting the two male mutants standing in the entrance to the room. "Scott has houses on all of the properties on this side of the board." She pointed to one of the four sides. "He's beating us all!" She giggled and ruffled the boy's hair, careful not to disturb his glasses.

Erik smiled fondly. "I see you've met Scott." The new, younger presence was really helping everyone cope. Scott was a lot like Charles in many ways. Erik turned to the sonic mutant. "Sean, where's Emma?"

Scott was the one to answer. "Oh, Emma? She was playing with us, but she went bankrupt early on. She's really bad at this game."

"Scott's caught on to Monopoly really quickly," Raven supplied.

"Wait! You left Emma unattended? With Cerebro right in the basement? Are you crazy?" Erik exploded, and everyone other than Scott stepped away from any metal objects that could potentially maim them.

Sean turned as red as his hair and began spluttering. "But—but—I mean, w-what's the worst she could do?"

"Where's the furry blue guy? I saw him before, but he didn't want to play Monopoly with us. I think he and Emma went off somewhere, together." Everyone turned to Scott in amazement, eyes wide in horror. Scott just smiled snidely. "What? I thought we were playing hide-and-seek or something."

Author's Note: If you were confused by the beginning of this chapter, it was probably because it was meant to be a bit mysterious. But feel free to ask any questions! I will do my best to answer them, unless that requires giving something away!


	8. Findings

Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of updates for the past two days. I've been busy, but here's a new chapter!

SOphIe: I'm glad you found that funny! The last part of this chapter's for you!

Wing-Mei: You perpetually need a chill pill! :^)

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma: I always enjoy your reviews! I feel like Scott knows more than he's letting on. Oh well.

Mieschers: He could have been bluffing, but I guess will never find out, unless he actually magnetically rips someone's head off. Thanks for reviewing!

Sagami-Ayumu: Thanks for reviewing! It's nice to have a new reader! I feel that Erik and Emma are very similar in some ways, so they would make a good couple, but they're not about to suddenly become a couple because they both have strong personalities that clash at times. They need to work towards that point, and although Erik has somewhat noticed his physical reaction to Emma, his mental view of her is different. And I said in an earlier note that I was going to mess with the ages because they didn't really make sense in the movies.

Chapter Eight: Findings

"They're definitely not in the school or on the grounds." It was nearly midnight, and Sean had just spent the better half of the night searching the premises for Emma and Hank on his own.

Erik grumbled. "I guess there isn't much else we can do tonight."

Erik stretched his legs out in front of him. He was having great trouble falling asleep—whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the strange monster from Scott's imagination. He and Alex had not found anything at the orphanage, so it was probably just his imagination. There was a small chance that the monster had left, leaving behind no evidence, but it was a stretch.

He decided that he was not going to fall asleep, so he swung his tired legs off of the bed and stood up. As Erik meandered down the hall, he heard a familiar voice wafting out of the kitchen, a familiar British voice. This made him hyper-vigilant, and he sprinted over to the source. A familiar head of brown greeted him, as its owner was facing in the opposite direction.

"Charles…" Erik knew that Charles was dead—he had seen it happen with his own eyes and had buried his best friend—but who else had that hair, that voice. "Am I delirious, dead, or dreaming?"

"Erik." Charles moved towards him, smiling mournfully. "You're not dreaming…" He wrapped his arms around the taller man, embracing Erik firmly. Looking down at the top of the shorter man's head, he felt wet tears stain the front of his pajama shirt. "But Charles _is_ dead!"

The words startled Erik, as they were spoken with Charles's voice, but when he looked down, a mop of long red hair adorned the top of the hugger's head. "What the…?" Erik pushed away the nude blue body that had been clinging to him. "What's the meaning of this?"

Raven eyes were downcast, and her cheeks were still streaked with tears. "When I shift into Charles's form and speak using Charles's voice, it's like he's still here, with me." A twinkle entered her eyes as she spoke, but abruptly vanished as Erik began speaking.

Erik tried to take a deep breath and calm down, but he could not stop his hyperventilating. "Raven, this is sick. You're sick. You need help!"

"Don't push me away; you're the only one who understands me! Charles isn't truly gone when I can become him!"

"Listen to me, Raven." Erik placed his cold, clammy hands on Raven's bare shoulder, but she did not flinch away. His touch alone gave her great comfort. "You are _not_ Charles, and nothing you do can bring him back. We both saw him die. If anything, his death...it's my fault." It felt good to finally get that off his shoulders. This was the first time in a long while that he had conveyed such deep thoughts to anyone other than himself.

"No! You were stopping those missiles. We all could have died if not for you. You shouldn't feel guilty. It was a combination of circumstances that led to Charles's death." Their roles had switched and now Raven was the levelheaded soother. She pushed her head into Erik's chest and wrapped her arms around him again. They were silent as they sought comfort from each other over Charles's death.

Two figures crept stealthily into the Cerebro room. They did not know if anyone else in the house was awake, but they did not want to take any chances, so they tried to be as sneaky as possible, but it was not easy for one gangly redhead and another short-fused blond.

"I don't see what the point of coming here is. Why don't you remind me why I'm here, Sean?"

"Alex, besides the hangar, where's the last place that Hank and Emma were?"

"Um, let me go on a limb here…this room?" Alex rolled his eyes as they moved towards the clunk machinery that constituted Cerebro. "I'm sorry, but that doesn't explain why I have to be here."

"They may have left some sort of clue to where they went." Narrowing his eyes, Sean surveyed the room intently, looking from place to place.

"You're not a detective, and it's the middle of the night. And, I _could_ be sleeping right now."

"Shhhhh. You're distracting me." He had moved over to a piece of machinery and was inspecting it closely.

"Sean, you're being way ridiculous." Smirking, Alex meandered over to the Cerebro headgear. "Hank left a note for us on the helmet."

"Erik's helmet? Why would he leave a note on the helmet? I mean, how could he without me noticing? I was wearing the helmet earlier." Sean patted the top of his head, where the helmet had been resting previously. He had given it back to Erik hours ago, but his hair was still flattened down oddly due to helmet hair. "How do you think Erik deals with the helmet hair everyday?" He pondered that thought for a moment before posing another question. "Does he sleep with the helmet on?"

"Shut up, Sean. You're real chatty when you're nervous. Don't worry; I'll try protect you when Erik tries to rip your head of magnetically."

Sean's arms jerked up towards his head, as if checking to make sure it was still there. His wide eyed gaze was focused in Alex's direction. "What? He can do that? Since when?"

Shrugging, Alex replied, "I dunno. I've never seen him do it, but I don't doubt that he can."

"Eep! Do you think he'll be mad if he catches us in here?"

"I don't think it's possible for you to screw up more than you already have! You've reached the human threshold of screw-upness."

"Hey! I just thought that your little brother needed more babysitting than Emma and Hank did! You can't blame me for this!"

"Maybe I can't, but Erik sure can. By the way, I was talking about the Cerebro headgear, not Erik's helmet. Look at the note." Alex passed it over to Sean, who gripped it delicately, as to not destroy any evidence.

_Gone to Germany to recruit a mutant in need._

_Don't bother coming after us, we have everything under control._

_Next time, don't relegate me to plane-sitting duty._

_Back soon._

_-Hank_

"They're in Germany. I don't see how we can do anything about that, so I guess we should just go to bed and wait for them to get back." Yawning, Alex decided that he was ready to call it a night, and left Sean standing there, staring at the note. Not wanting to be left behind, Sean sprinted to catch up to Alex, and they headed off to their separate bedrooms.

As Alex passed by the kitchen, he saw Erik sleeping in a stiff upright position on one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table. On the chair next to Erik, Raven was lying down so her head was resting on Erik's lap. A small smile crossed over Alex's face as he took in this touching scene, but he did not pause long before hurrying upstairs to bed.

In Germany, Hank had touched the Blackbird down in an airfield, and he and Emma were now wandering through a circus boasting such attractions as a bearded lady, a fortune teller, a half boy/half cat, and a demon acrobat. Although all of the posters were in German, the pictures were pretty telling.

"So, which one is the mutant?" Hank looked around as they walked past the circus tents, but no one seemed like a normal human at the circus.

"I guess we'll have to get you an undercover job as a beast with the mind of a man. That way, we will be able to discover which one of these strange creatures is our mutant." Emma's snide voice replied, rudely.

"Are you serious?"

"No. I can use my telepathy to find the mutant." She brought her fingers to her forehead. "He's the demon acrobat. His show's about to begin, and we don't want to miss it."

They rushed off towards one of the tents, Emma in the lead and sat down in the audience. A young teenager, no older than fifteen, stepped climbed up onto the trapeze platform and stood proudly. His appearance was definitely reminiscent of a blue demon—his blue skin, dark blue hair, and pointy blue tail all contrasted greatly with his skin-tight red leotard. His adolescent body was well-toned for his age, probably due to intense acrobatic training, and his muscles were well-defined

The boy, extending his arms forward, gripping the first trapeze, leapt off the platform. It was then that Emma and Hank noticed that there was no safety net below the young man. He swung in a large arc on the trapeze before letting go and soaring towards the next trapeze. In the air, he began performing intricate twists and flips that wowed the audience members. He caught the next trapeze bar easily with his hands, and then flipped around the bar several times before swinging the trapeze again. He flipped through the air and landed gracefully on the opposing platform, where he gave a wave, followed by repeating the trapeze act a few times, throwing in different flips and spins. When he landed on the platform for the final time, he gave a deep bow to the audience members, and then climbed down the ladder from the platform, as another acrobat began to climb up the other one.

Hank and Emma left their seats in the stands and followed the boy towards a closed off section of the tent. He must have sensed that he was being followed because he whipped his head around suddenly and came face-to-face with a beautiful blonde woman.

"Hello, Kurt Wagner. Don't be afraid! I'm Miss Frost, and this furry beast is Hank. We're fellow mutants."

Kurt seemed confused as he looked from Emma to Hank. "Was?"

"You do know English, right?" Emma eyed him, worriedly. It would be difficult to convince him to go back to the school if he did not understand English. Of course, when they got back, Erik would be able to translate, so they could always kidnap Kurt.

"Yes," Kurt's words were heavy with his German accent, "I do know English, very well actually." He looked towards Hank, eyes sorrowful. "So this is your natural form? It's nice not to be the only furry blue one around for once." Kurt's smile revealed overly sharp canines, almost like fangs, but the rest of his teeth were normal.

"You're furry?" Hank questioned, as he looked Kurt over. Squinting, he could see the fine layer of blue fur covering Kurt, but it was not very noticeable. Kurt's most discerning feature was probably the pointy tail and the pointy, elf-like ears, or perhaps the fact that he only had three fingers on each hand, including the thumb, which Hank had just noticed. "Never mind, I see it now. Kurt, I would like to ask you to join our school for mutants. It's in the U.S., but you'll have the opportunity to learn how to control your powers and you'll have normal classes, too."

"Leave Germany?" An indecipherable look passed over Kurt's face, and Emma made a split-second decision not to peer into the boy's mind. "I'll go with you. Anything to leave the circus. I want to go out in the real world and experience adventure! I love being the center of attention, but I hate being looked at as a freak. No one in the audience knows that I'm a mutant—they all think that this demon thing is just a gimmick, but the children fear me."

Hank reached his arm around Kurt and pulled him into an awkward one-armed hug. "It'll be okay. One day, humans won't fear us, and we will live in harmony. For now, though, we can do our best to work towards this goal!" Kurt smiled as his yellow eyes met Hank's.

"Look, he has your eyes, too!" Hank and Kurt each rolled their yellow eyes at Emma's sarcastic comment.

Author's Note: What will happen when Hank and Emma return to the mansion with Kurt in tow? How will Erik react?


	9. Fun?

Author's Note: On a completely unrelated note, I went to see Harry Potter yesterday, and it wasn't nearly as good as Winnie the Pooh!

Wing-Mei: Sorry, but I'm out of chill pills… Haha. You're silly.

Mieschers: I'm glad you like Nightcrawler. I think he's a pretty cool guy.

Theta 'Krypto' Nigma: I don't think I'm going to add Kitty. I'm okay with changing around ages, but she's supposed to be a young girl compared to the adult X-Men and a young woman compared to the even older adult X-Men…

SOphIe: You're competing with Wing-Mei in the silliest reviewer category. Whoever leaves the silliest review for next chapter gets an extra special prize—there will either be a Kurt-centric chapter or a Scott-centric chapter in it for you!

Sagami-Ayumu: Thanks for that interesting tidbit of information, and also thanks for the amazing review. I didn't really mind the age screw-ups in the movie because I loved it so much!

Haley Tran: Yeah, because Kurt can tell that Erik is German just by looking at him. I feel like Kurt is too silly for Erik though… Haha :^D Thanks for the reviews! It's unfortunate, but Charles had to die to push the plot forward. He lives on as Mystique though, creepily at night!

Chapter Nine: Fun?

Hank, Emma, and Kurt tried their best to surreptitiously slip into the mansion early in the morning, but it was to no avail. Although it was only five in the morning, Erik and Raven were asleep in the kitchen, right off the foyer, and the sounds of three people entering—Kurt with his hands full of luggage—startled them awake quite easily.

"Raven, get off of me." Erik gently lifted her head up off his lap, and she immediately pulled up into a sitting position.

"Oops! I must have fallen asleep…" Her cheeks held a tinge of purple as she blushed, having realized the position they had been in just moments before. She opened her mouth to speak, but Erik shushed her.

"Raven, listen—you were Charles's foster sister, and he was like a brother to me too. That makes you like a sister to me, too. Raven—I'll be here for you, but don't expect anything…more out of our relationship." He gazed at her regretfully. "You deserve someone younger, closer to your age, someone who will be able to take of you."

"I can take care of myself!" She stormed out of the kitchen and came face-to-face with a blue teenager with familiar yellow eyes. Gaping, she reached her hand up to his face and felt his cheek. Kurt squirmed away at the strange woman's touch, but she was also blue, so he felt a strange kinship towards her.

"Guten tag?" Kurt said, still a bit unsure of himself. The blue woman was a stranger to him, but he had warmed up to Hank quickly enough, and she was just as blue, although not furry. He held out his three fingered hand for a handshake, but immediately regretted doing so when the Raven just stared at it in astonishment.

"Kurt…?" The name floated out through Raven's lips, a soft whisper.

"Um…do I know you?" Tilting his head, Kurt stared at the blue woman suspiciously. Beside him, Emma smiled knowingly, while Hank was sufficiently confused.

"Yes, you do, but you probably don't remember her—she's your mother," supplied Emma.

Kurt's jaw dropped, and his eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets. He had lost his ability to speak, so he stared at the blue woman silently.

"Emma, you need to stop reading my mind! Maybe I need one of those telepathy-blocking helmets…" Raven was furious as she rounded on Emma, yellow eyes blazing. She clenched her fists, but even in her rage, knew better than to attack Emma, who could easily use her telepathy against Raven or turn into diamond.

Displaying a sickeningly sweet, faux smile, Emma tried to calm Raven down. "I know that it would be hard for you to tell Kurt this revelation, so I just wanted to make it easier on you by speeding up the whole process. If it was going to come out anyway, it doesn't matter who said it."

Having decided that he had given Raven enough time to clear her head, Erik stepped out of the kitchen into the foyer. He had heard voices, and had assumed that Alex and Sean had woken up, but when he entered the foyer, he saw four figures, and two of them were Hank and Emma. He was about to berate the two of them when Raven erupted, scaring an unfamiliar blue boy, who ducked behind Hank.

"He's my son, and it was my prerogative to tell him on my own time! This is the first time with seen each other in such a long time, and you've gone and ruined it, Emma!"

Erik frowned in contemplation as Sean, Alex, and Scott raced down the main stairs, having been startled awake by the commotion.

"What? You have a son? Since when?" Sean was completely lost. "You can't be much older than me or Alex!"

Raven sighed and fingered her smooth red hair. "I'd rather have told this to Kurt, privately, but I guess you all deserve to know… I'm much older than you and Alex. I'm a shape-shifter, and although I still look like a teenager, I'm really in my twenties. When I was fourteen, I got pregnant from a one night stand. It was a mistake, and I instantly regretted it. The only other person I told was Charles; he tried to understand but… Late in my pregnancy, I traveled to Germany, alone. I gave birth while I was there; I was so young myself, I had no idea how to care for a baby, especially a blue one. I gave the baby, Kurt, up for adoption and returned to the U.S. Kurt should be thirteen now. I told Charles that I'd miscarried, but he could always tell when I was lying…It probably had something to do with the fact that he was a telepath. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of you, Kurt, and how I just left you there, but I was so immature back then, and I needed Charles to take care of me—there was no way I could take care of you." Her eyes grew watery as she spoke of her abandoned son and dead brother. Tears began falling down her cheeks freely as she expressed the emotions about her son that she had bottled up for years.

His gave full of pity and understanding, Kurt emerged from behind Hank and ran up to his mother, embracing her tightly. "I don't hate you! I've always wanted to meet my birth mother! You left me with a loving woman, and I found a home at the circus, despite my appearance!" He broke the hug and smiled at her, flashing his sharp canines. "And don't worry, you can join the Cool Blue Mutant Club that Hank and I created on the plane ride over! I'm the president."

Noticing the boy's thick German accent, Erik was faced with more contemplation. Had Hank and Emma left him behind to spare him from the pain of returning to Germany? He would need to have a private conversation with the two of them later, but perhaps he would hear them out first before he began scolding them. Still, Germany was full of painful memories for Erik, so he was going to try and keep his German heritage a secret from Kurt to keep from having any awkward conversations in German.

"Isn't Kurt the most adorable boy ever? He's just too sweet!" Sean whispered to Alex, who rolled his eyes at the other young man. Scott, who was standing next to his brother, huffed with jealousy. Emma unconsciously nodded at Sean's words, which brought Erik out of his reverie.

"I knew you have a soft spot for kids." Erik slid over to where Emma was standing, and leaned toward her ear. "How sweet is that?" He smirked at Emma's annoyed expression.

"You knew that I like kids. Why else would I want to be a teacher, let alone a teacher here? To be with you?" Emma scoffed and moved away from Erik and closer to Hank.

Clearing his throat loudly, Erik moved to the center of the room. "I hate to once again break up a lovely and touching family reunion, but there are important things that need to be done. It's great that we've all gotten an early start to the day, all thanks to Hank, Emma, and Kurt. Now we have a lot of time to test out the danger room. I want Alex, Sean, Emma, Hank, and Raven to follow me. Kurt and Scott—try not to destroy the rest of the mansion while we're down in the basement!"

No one questioned Erik's commanding tone. Everyone who was told to follow him did so, albeit grudgingly on Emma's part, and those told to stay put watched as the others left. For several of the mutants, it was their first time going down to the basement, and they were astonished by what they saw—thick concrete walls surrounding them, high-tech cameras at every corner, and keypads next to the doors.

"I've installed a lock on Cerebro's door, and only I'll have the code for it. I'm never going to take this helmet off, even when I'm sleeping," said Erik, glaring at Emma.

"That's a bit of overkill…" Emma protested, but Erik was hearing none of it.

"That's the women's locker room." He pointed to a pink door. "And that's the men's locker room." He pointed to another door, this one painted blue. "Alex, Sean, and Raven, suit up, and then go inside that room." He pointed to yet another door, but this one was much different than the others. It was a large steel door with a giant embossed X stretching across it. "It's the Danger Room. Emma and Hank, follow me up to the Danger Room observation deck."

They left the three other mutants and entered another door after Erik entered a code into the keypad, oriented in such a way that none of the others could see. They followed the winding stairs until they got up to the observation deck, a small room with windows covering one full side. It gave them a perfect view of a large concrete room with panels covering the sides and ceiling and some panels on the ground, too.

"Isn't it breathtaking?" Hank asked.

"Yes, but that's not what I called you up here for. We need to talk about yesterday."

Hank's breath caught in his throat, and he was unable to speak, so Erik continued. "Hank, I left you in the plane for the good of the mission. We couldn't just walk into that orphanage with a giant blue monster. But, I understand that you didn't enjoy being sidelined. You did a good job recruiting Kurt. Go suit up and join the others!"

Nodding, Hank rushed off, glad to have received mercy.

"Now, Emma…" Erik's piercing gaze switched over to Emma, who stood straight and tall.

"I didn't do anything wrong! You told me to get permission from Hank before using Cerebro, and I did."

"That's a good point, but you did leave the country without permission!"

"So did Hank, and you let him off."

"Hank is still young and learning. You're both supposed to be teachers here, so I suggest you grow up quickly. You haven't done anything terrible yet, so I won't fire you, but I'm going to continue keeping an eye on you. Consider yourself on probation until further notice. However, I have something important to ask of you—at Scott's old orphanage, there was something eerie about it that I can't explain, and I need you to look into my memories so I can look—"

At that moment, the young mutants walked into Danger Room. They were all wearing their sleek yellow and black uniforms, which Hank had fixed, and he had made more of them. Erik turned to Emma. "I guess it will have to wait." He pressed the intercom button that would allow anyone inside Danger Room to hear him. "Okay, kids, I'm going to start you off on level one. I don't doubt your abilities, but I want to make sure the easiest level will be okay for Kurt and Scott to train on."

Emma bowed out of the room and disappeared down the stairs. She was not about to stay any longer than she was needed.

"All right, go!" Erik shouted.

He pressed the shiny blue button under level one and typed in the access code. He did not want just anyone to be able to control Danger Room. The room whirred into life as the platforms on the ground began shifting, creating obstacles. Sean fell off balance because his two feet were on different platforms, so he toppled over onto his face. A panel on the ceiling opened up above him and a large concrete boulder fell out. Right before it was about to land on Sean, Alex blasted it apart into smithereens with his energy powers.

Scrambling onto his feet, Sean ran over to the rest of the group. "Do we have a goal, or something?"

Raven shrugged in his direction. "I dunno. Maybe it's to stay alive?"

Several panels on the side of the room opened up, and large guns emerged. One of them began shooting bullets at them, while the other two blasted fire. The young mutants began dodging the bullets and the fire, but Hank had a better idea.

He ran towards a flame thrower, evading the flames, and then jumped up to grab it when he was underneath. He grabbed onto the sides of the gun, but then it shot flames down towards him. Quickly, he leapt away, but he was not quite fast enough. The flames reached him, and his fur started on fire. He looked around, but there was no one whose powers allowed them to put out flames.

"Don't look at me!" Raven spouted, "My powers aren't made for this kind of situation. There's nothing shape-shifting or martial arts can do here to help!"

"Ouch! My fur is singed!" Hank began patting at his head. After a great deal of effort, he finally quelled the flames.

"Um, I know you worked really hard on this room, but can I destroy those guns?" Alex asked, not bothering to hide the eagerness on his face.

"Go ahead. It ruined my fur!"

Everyone covered their ears as Alex began blasting at the guns, and Sean aimed his screams towards them. When the guns were destroyed, the mutants sighed in relief, but kept vigilant for any other possible hazards. Suddenly, Danger Room's lights dimmed, the platforms sank, and all of the panels shut.

"I think that's enough for one day. Hank obviously has some bugs to work out. We don't want Danger Room killing Scott and Kurt on their first try." Erik's voice wafted down from the speakers.

"Yeah, Hank." Alex and Raven said in unison, glaring at the furry blue mutant. Their respective protective older brother and cautious mother genes had picked in.

Hank rubbed the charred blue fur on his head. "I don't know what went wrong! Level one was supposed to be obstacles and flying disks! Nothing lethal…"

Everyone went back to the locker rooms to clean up. Afterward, they all dispersed to relax in different places.

Erik sat down on the couch in front of the television, which was already on. The newscaster droned on about some mundane subject while the screen flickered. The reception was not great, but what more could he expect?

"Who's Xavier?" A quiet voice asked from beside him. Erik had not noticed the couch's other occupant when he had plopped down on the couch, but it did explain why the television had been on. It was Scott, who out of all of the younger mutants, Erik preferred the most. Although the boy had a cheeky streak in him, he was generally serious and solemn.

"Hmmm?" Erik really had no intention in answering Scott. There was no need for Erik to bring up painful memories in order to satiate a young boys curiosity.

"Why is the school named Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters? I get that us mutants are the gifted youngsters, but who's Xavier?" Scott clarified, shifting on the couch to face Erik.

"I'd rather not talk about it. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand, Mr. Lensherr, but I've shared so much with you; the least you could do is tell me this!"

Erik turned to Scott; the boy was being half polite, half impudent, which aggravated Erik to no end. Despite Scott's lagging education, he was quite precocious in many ways. Erik could see in the boy's eyes that he was not going to give up until he got an answer, so Erik stood up and left the room, brushing past Kurt, who was entering.

"Hey, Scott! What are you watching?" Kurt greeted, grinning broadly. He had had seen the way Erik had just blown the other young mutant off, and Scott was visibly upset. Plopping down on the couch beside the other mutant, he glanced at the TV.

"The news."

"Haha. Maybe you should switch the channel to a comedy act. That will lighten up the mood!" Kurt was doing his best to clear the tension in the room, but Scott was just staring at him with an annoyed expression. It was Kurt's luck that the only other boy around his age in the entire mansion had a major stick up his ass. "Fine. If you don't feel like changing the channel, I'll even put on a comedy act for you." He stood up, preparing to start, when Scott shot an exasperated look at him.

"Kurt, you need to grow up! You are so immature. There are some things that you just don't understand! I'm just not into the whole slapstick comedy thing."

Kurt suddenly felt like he was much younger than Scott, even though he was a year older, but he decided to ignore the insults for now; after all, Scott had just been dismissed rudely by their new mentor. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to cheer you up. Personally speaking, I prefer swashbuckling adventures myself. Maybe we can go watch a movie together sometime?" Even though they did not seem to have much anything in common, Kurt was hoping to at least strike an acquaintanceship with Scott.

Shrugging, Scott suddenly felt uncomfortable. He had never had a real friend before. Maybe he had friends hen he was really young, but he did not remember that, so in his mind it did not count.

"If it's any consolation, Magneto always blows me off too. I don't think he would ever even sit down next to me, so you're one ahead of me in that department at least." Kurt believed that he was finally starting to get to Scott, as this piqued his interest.

"Magneto?" Scott questioned.

"I heard one of the older boys call Mr. Lensherr that by accident. Apparently it used to be his nickname. It seems like they all had nicknames! We should make some too, that way we can be superheroes." His grin was infectious, as Scott finally broke out into a grin, too. "Hank told me that the late Professor Xavier grew up in this mansion. There are probably some games somewhere, if we look."

"Yeah. We played Monopoly yesterday. Now, tell me who Xavier is..."


	10. Danger

Author's Note: I think Wing-Mei's was the silliest review, so this chapter has some added Scott-ness.

Thank you to anyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!

Chapter Ten: Danger

"Scott!" A blue finger jabbed the boy in the red sunglasses right in the gut. "Have you thought of a nickname for yourself yet?"

"I'm not an expert, but aren't other people supposed to give someone a nickname?"

"You may be right, but I still want to be Nightcrawler. It just sounds the coolest. I'll be the coolest mutant ever!"

"Um. Okay…" The two boys were in Kurt's bedroom. Scott had only agreed to go in there to borrow clothes. Alex's were way too large on him and no one showed any interest in taking him shopping. He held up a small looking shirt that seemed to be his size. Pulling off Alex's overlarge red shirt, Scott revealed his pale, thin body. Scars ran along his chest and arms, and Kurt could see each individual rib on the other mutant's body.

"What happened?" Kurt immediately regretted asking this because Scott instantly averted his eyes and said no more. Inside, Scott was berating himself for taking his shirt off in front of someone else. He frowned slightly, but his glasses covered the strong emotions he held in his eyes. If he could have cried, he would have. "Nevermind. You don't have to tell me, but I'm here if you want to talk… I'll wait outside while you change your pants." Smiling apologetically, Kurt slipped out through the door. He knew what it felt like to be ashamed of his body. Flexing his six blue fingers, he smiled. He had overcome his insecurity, and he could definitely help Scott.

Scott pulled on Kurt's shirt, which fit him much better than Alex's, and then he stepped out of Alex's shorts, which doubled as long pants for him. He picked pair of Kurt's pants, preparing to put them on. It was then that he noticed the large hole on the seat of the pants…where Kurt's tail went through. Sighing, Scott put Alex's pants back on, deciding that it was to force someone to take him shopping. He opened the door, letting Kurt back in.

"Why aren't you wearing my pants?" Kurt frowned. The shorts looked odd on Scott, as they nearly reached his ankles. Scott held up the pants so the hole was in clear view. Groaning, Kurt looked down at his feet. Following his gaze, Scott noticed something he had not before; on Kurt's bare, blue feet, he only had two toes or maybe three—it looked like he had another one extending from the back of his heel. "Sorry, Scott. That was stupid of me." Scott was about to leave when Kurt stopped him. "Wait! I have an idea—I'll stitch the hole up! I have enough pants for a while, and you can get me some clothes when you go shopping."

Scott understood that the blue boy could not be seen in public, but at least he had Hank and their stupid little club. After Kurt finished sewing up the hole, Scott changed into the pants rapidly and headed for the door. "Bye, Kurt. Don't tell anyone what you saw!" He zipped off and, by the time Kurt stuck his head out of his room, had disappeared around the corner.

Straddling the banister with both legs, Scott slid down and landed gingerly on the floor. When he turned around, he came face-to-face with Kurt, who smelled strongly of sulfur.

"Wha-" Scott was completely confused. He had just left Kurt upstairs, and there was no possible way for Kurt to get downstairs before him.

"Ja, I can teleport."

A large purple cloud appeared, and Kurt disappeared. Scott turned his face away from the foul-smelling sulfur scent, but behind him, another cloud had appeared with Kurt standing in the middle of it.

"That's not exactly sneaky…"

"No worries, I'm used to it by now. Besides, the only time someone else can smell it is when they're right next to me, and by then, it's too late!" Kurt extended his arm as if thrusting an imaginary sword. He grinned in Scott's direction because the other boy was cocking an eyebrow at him. "And I wanted to tell you. My favorite colors are red and black, so if you could get me clothes in that color…"

"Got it."

Kurt teleported away, most likely back to his room, and Scott was left alone again. He ran up to each room and peeked inside until he had found the person he had been looking for.

"Hi, Miss Frost!" Scott willed himself not to blush. He could not help his crush on her. The blonde telepath was just so beautiful. He focused on blocking her out of his thoughts. "Um…I was wondering. Will you take me to the store to buy some clothes? I don't think any of the men would be interested in taking me…"

Emma blinked at the slim brown-haired boy and smiled. "Sure. Why don't we tell Mr. Lensherr that we are going out? Then we can be on our way."

Scott followed her up the stairs and through the hallways until they reached Erik's room. Knocking crisply on the door, Emma stood waiting impatiently. The door flew open, and Erik stood there, watching them with an irritated expression.

"What do you want now, Emma?" asked Erik.

"I'm going out to the store to buy Scott some clothes."

Surveying the two of them with a thoughtful expression, Erik shook his head. "I don't think that's going to be happening. Emma, you're not allowed anywhere without adult supervision. I'll take Scott."

Emma began spluttering. "What? No. You can't…You're not serious!"

The look emanating from Erik's intense blue eyes were the final word. Emma took off storming in the other direction, pausing only to give Erik one last glare.

"Don't think I'll help you analyze your memories from your visit to Scott's orphanage later!"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Scott looked at Erik. "Did you find anything there?"

"I don't think so, which is why I need to go over those memories. Don't worry. Emma will come around, and we'll figure out what happened to you at the orphanage."

Scott looked crestfallen, but he knew what he had seen at the orphanage, and he had waited this long for closure; he could wait a little while longer.

The TV was blaring, and Sean and Alex were sitting on the couch in front of it. While Sean kept giggling, Alex just rolled his eyes at the other young man.

"Hello!" Kurt exclaimed. "What are you guys watching?"

"The Andy Griffith Show," replied Sean. He looked around, but for the life of him, he could not find Kurt.

The youngest of the three mutants dropped onto the couch in between the other two. "Can I watch, too?"

"Sure!" Sean smiled welcomingly. "There's always room for another mutant!"

"Wait!" Alex huffed. "You can only join us if you tell us where the hell you came from."

"Alex! Watch your language!" Sean was furious, but Alex was more interested in Kurt, who was pointing up towards the ceiling.

"Can you fly?" Alex asked, excitedly. "Erik can fly, but he will never take any of us with him…"

"I cannot fly, but I can crawl on the walls and the ceiling," Kurt explained, but Alex seemed disappointed at the news. "I can also teleport! Relatively short distances, not far, but I can take another person with me, too!" Alex brightened up at this, his face fell again when Kurt added, "It adds a bit of a strain to me and my passenger, so I only take other people in emergencies."

Alex got up from the couch and directed another, more serious, question at Kurt. "Hey, do you know where Scott is? I was thinking we could do some bonding."

"He went clothes shopping, but he'll be back later!"

Sighing, Alex sat back down on the couch. He would have to wait until later to bond with his brother. Somehow, they had not had any alone time since Scott's arrival at the mansion.

Studying her reflection in the mirror, Emma faced her deeply-rooted insecurities. She wondered if this was where she was meant to be. Erik had not accepted her yet, although the two youngest mutants seemed the most accepting. She supposed that those she had fought against had not yet forgiven her, but Erik was the one who asked her to the school. When the school finally got officially accredited, it would finally open, and she would fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher.

Everyone looked up when Emma entered the room. There was no room on the couch, so Emma leaned on the arm rest. "We need another couch, don't we?"

The other mutants chuckled nervously and nodded. "If we ever get a whole school full of students, we'll need a ton of couches," Sean said. "There will be more couches than rooms in the mansion!" Everyone laughed politely at Sean's lame joke, causing his smile to falter slightly. "I'm just trying to continue the conversation!"

"Right…" Alex shook his head. "Pretty much everyone's here so let's talk about the thing that's on everyone's minds—the codenames. We need the codenames back. That's what separates us from the normal people. Well, that and the awesome powers. Anyway, they were like our mutant names and our superhero names. I mean, we did save the world, and I bet we'll do it again!"

"Nice speech, Summers. We heard it from Hank's basement lab. Why did you start this group meeting without us?"

Hank and Raven stood by the entrance to the room. Hank was holding a small wooden box and seemed very excited. "Where's Scott? I have something for him!"

"Why is it that Scott is so much more popular than me? He went shopping. Oddly enough with Erik, it seems, because he's the only other one that isn't here." Alex looked around at everyone in the room. "Who's with me about the codenames?"

"I like the idea!" Kurt shouted, "I already have a codename for myself. My circus name in Germany roughly translates to Nightcrawler in English, and I believe it suits me very well. Scott couldn't think of a name, but I'm convinced he likes the idea."

"Yes!" Alex surveyed the rest of the mutants. "So, the only other person here without an awesome codename is Emma." He pointed a finger in her direction, and she rolled her eyes.

"I sometimes went by White Queen, but I would much prefer being called Emma Frost, or Miss Frost by my students." She narrowed her eyes at each and every younger mutant, which happened to be everyone in the room. Her demeanor, and perhaps a bit of telepathic nudging, convinced the others in the room that she did not need a silly codename.

"Okay…"

Meanwhile, Scott and Erik combed through the aisles of the outlet store until they found a good number of clothes. Scott had picked up a variety of clothes—he had none, and would need different clothes all year round. He also found some red tee-shirts and black pants for Kurt in a slightly larger size.

"Is that it? Let's go!"

Scott learned that Erik was a very impatient shopping companion, and he spent the whole time wishing that he had brought Emma instead. Finding himself being practically dragged through the store to the check out, Scott rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Each carrying bags full of clothes, they stuffed them into the trunk. Scott could have sworn that he heard a sinister cackle coming from behind him, but when he whipped his head around in fear, all he saw was the nearly deserted parking lot around him. Erik touched the young boy's shoulder concernedly, having seen him jump.

Suddenly, Scott felt a small prick on his arm, and when he looked down, the end of a small dart was poking out of the crook of his elbow. Startled, he looked towards Erik for help, but he too was staring at a dart that had hit him on the arm. Drowsiness and lethargy soon overcame both of them, and they collapsed into a heap onto the ground. Strong, cold arms wrapped themselves around the two mutants and carried them off.


	11. Doomed

Author's note: Scott is actually my favorite X-Man; he just has the coolest glasses. You'll understand why I just said that after you read this!

Anyone who reviews will still get a response, but I've discovered the convenience of the private review reply! Any new readers, please review! I'd love to hear from you, too!

SOphIe: Kurt will be featured later in the story. Don't worry. Somehow your review was very off topic though…

Chapter Eleven: Doomed

"They've been gone since yesterday… I think that normal shopping trips are generally less than twenty four hours long. Something has to have gone wrong. Otherwise, I'm going to kill Erik when he gets back with Scott." Alex had just woken up, but he was already beginning to wear a hole through the carpet with his pacing.

"Chill out, Alex. It's not as if shopping for clothes is exactly dangerous. Maybe they snuck up to bed without anyone noticing because they didn't want to wake anyone up." Sean tried to pat Alex's shoulder comfortingly, but the blond mutant jerked away from the touch.

"I've already checked their rooms! I've checked the whole mansion!"

"Maybe there was a lot of traffic, so they decided to stay overnight at a hotel. That's possible! I mean, Erik doesn't exactly seem like he would make the most patient driver."

"Shut up! Erik would obviously use his magnetic powers to levitate the car back to the mansion if there was a ton of traffic."

Emma, Raven, Kurt, and Hank all stood outside of Alex's bedroom, listening in intently. The loud arguing had alerted them to the disagreement, but none wanted to interfere. Some of them felt the inclination to jump in and defend Sean, but no one acted on it.

"He would never give away our location like that!" Sean argued.

Frowning steadily, Alex bristled at Sean's valid argument. "Shut up, Sean! What I'm getting at is this—they've been kidnapped or worse yet, killed! They could even be dying in some hospital right now!"

"Isn't that a bit paranoid, Alex?" Emma had finally sauntered in, prompting the others to follow her into the room as well. "You're immediately jumping to the worst conclusions. Surely 'Magneto' is powerful enough to take care of himself, and Scott has impressive mutant powers, too. They couldn't just have been kidnapped or brutally attacked without a huge commotion. We would have heard about such a big incident on the news."

"Yeah, and isn't Magneto a little too old to be kidnapped?" Sean giggled at the thought of some random thug trying to take on the master of magnetism. "Have we gotten the ransom note yet?"

"I'm being serious here, Sean. Scott hasn't trained to control his power, and my big brother instincts tell me that something bad has happened to him!"

"Did your brotherly instincts tell you that your little brother was alive and living in filth on the streets?" Crossing her arms, Emma glared at Alex, who clenched his fists menacingly.

"Shhhhhh! Everybody, calm down. I would have thought that just the fact that Scott and Erik have not returned yet would be cause for alarm. It is in no way normal for anyone to be gone this long for a trip to the store. Does anyone know what store they went to? We need to organize a search party." Hank cleared his throat loudly, but it came out as more of a roar than a cough, causing the fighting to cease.

"I think they went to the outlets," Emma said. She was also worried about Scott and Erik. She had definitely not planned on becoming the oldest mutant in the mansion, and she felt a strange sort of protectiveness over Scott. It may be that his youth caused her to think of him as someone who needed protection, or she just genuinely cared about children.

"Okay, Emma. You will go down to Cerebro, and the rest of us will take the Blackbird to the outlets to see what we can find." Pulling out his headset to remain in contact, Hank prepared to leave, but Emma's diamond form immediately moved to block him, looking quite angry.

"No! You're going to need me. I'm a valuable asset to the team. I'll search for them with Cerebro, and then we'll go directly to where they are. This will actually save time because you won't have to waste any time wandering around aimlessly, searching for nonexistent clues.."

"You have a point…"

Everyone followed Emma down to Cerebro and watched in anticipation as she put the headgear on. Her face was full of intense concentration, but when she pulled the helmet off her head, it had switched to frustration.

"I can't find them. Something is interfering with Cerebro. It could be a psychic shield of some sort, or maybe even another telepath, but if I can't find them with Cerebro, they must be in trouble. Someone very powerful has gotten to them."

A dark look passed over Alex's face as he ground his teeth angrily. He had only just been reunited with his brother—he needed to find him soon.

When Erik woke up, he found himself lying uncomfortably on a cold tile floor. His body ached from being on a hard surface for so long, and his mind was cloudy. Slowly blinking his eyes open, his sight was accosted by the bright white lights shining from above. Finally regaining his ability to see something other than the lights, he found himself staring into the deep brown eyes of Scott Summers, who was staring at him concernedly.

Scott had been awake for almost an hour, which he had spent the better part of poking and prodding Erik's limp body with his foot. This explained the raw tenderness Erik felt in his ribs, although he was unaware of this fact. Taking his hands, Scott hoisted Erik up into a sitting position. The sudden movement caused Erik a great deal of nausea, and Scott leaped away from him when the older mutant began vomiting profusely.

"Are you okay?" Scott whispered.

Erik wiped the vomit off his face and looked at Scott in disbelief. "Not in the least. Where are we?" He rubbed his forehead, and the cloud suddenly lifted away. Looking around, he could see that they were locked in a small room together, and there was no metal in sight. They were trapped, and Scott's glasses…were gone.

"I don't know. I think the drug affected our powers though. My blasts are usually on all the time, but now I can't even access them. Whenever I try to use my optic beams, I only get extreme pain behind my eyes."

"Then try harder!"

Scott flinched back at Erik's tone and slunk into the corner of their cell. "I think the monster got to us…" he whispered softly, but Erik heard his words clearly.

"We've been taken captive. We need to put silly fantasies behind us and focus on escaping."

Scott retreated further into his corner and decided to change the subject. "Why did you start the mutant school? You don't really seem like the type..."

"I had this friend, and he had a grand dream for a future where mutants and humans coexist peacefully. I'm carrying this dream for him, and I will make sure it succeeds." Erik vaguely wondered if their conversation was being taped, but quickly shrugged off any concerns; it was not as if he was sharing highly guarded secrets.

"We've been captured. Are you scared?" Scott stared at Erik, looking for any signs of fear, but the older mutant straightened and held his head up high.

"No, of course not. I'm a powerful mutant."

"But our powers have been negated, we're at an unknown location, and if we don't know where we are, how can anyone else? Who will come save us?" Tracing a line through the dust on the floor, Scott voiced his concerns.

"I'm sure that Alex will go to no end to find you. Hank will be smart enough to figure out what happened to us, and Emma can use her telepathy to find any witnesses or leftover psychic residue."

"What will happen when they get here?"

"Alex will demolish the place with his powers. He knows his powers can't hurt you, and he doesn't care that enough about me..."

"Haha."

Silence engulfed the room, and the two mutants began staring at each other unblinkingly. Neither could think of anything else to say, and the tension was unbearable. Erik turned around for a mere minute, but when he turned back towards where Scott had been kneeling in the corner, the young mutant was gone. There was no door anywhere that Erik could see. He had no idea how Scott got out, or who or what took him. Sitting in the deathly silent cell, Erik stared at the opposing wall, willing a door to randomly appear.

"Scott!" Erik yelled out in anguish. Charles would never forgive him if he lost a young mutant. He slapped himself in the forehead. If only he had not let Scott out of his sight... He began pounding his fists against the wall, hoping to escape and save Scott, but all this led to were bloodied knuckles and increasing frustration. Leaning back against the wall, Erik gave into hopelessness. Unless the other mutants found them, they were doomed. With no powers, he was just as weak as a mere human.

After what seemed like hours, Erik awoke to a loud slamming noise beside him. He had not meant to fall asleep, but there was nothing else for him to do to occupy his time, and he had been physically exhausted. Scott was now lying unconscious next to him. His brown hair was sticky with blood, his clothes were stained red and torn, revealing deep gashes along his body, and his face was badly bruised.

Erik held a watchful guard over the young boy, determined not to let him out if his sight for a split second, even to blink. He believed that Scott could be snatched away during the time his eyes shut to blink. The boy was in a bad state, but at least none if the injuries had been life threatening. Erik paused a moment to rub his eyes. The gravity of the situation was finally hitting him—he and Scott had been kidnapped, and Scott had been tortured. He removed his hand to check on the mutant boy, but Scott was gone again. Groaning loudly, Erik whacked his head against the wall of the cell behind him until he felt blood running down the back of his neck.

Later, Scott was dumped haphazardly next to Erik. More cuts and bruises had appeared, and Scott's limbs were sticking out at unnatural angles. He definitely had several broken bones. Somehow, Erik ended up dozing off again. He woke to the sound of painful moaning.

"Shhh, Scott." Erik soothed. "Don't try to move. It'll only make it hurt more."

Scott's breaths were too shallow, and Erik wondered if he had punctured a lung. Either way, he needed to get Scott out of there and to a hospital where he could get medical attention. Hunger was gnawing at the pit of Erik's stomach, and he could safely assume that Scott was similarly hungry, although the pain was probably more of a concern right now.

"Whoever's holding us here, I'm ready to negotiate! No good will come of further harm to a mutant! We have powerful friends."

Only silence answered Erik's pleas. He wondered how Charles would feel if he joined the other man in death before he even made a dent in his dream for peace between the mutant race and lowly humans.

"I'll do whatever you want as long as you get the boy medical attention!"

"Fine," a voice boomed down from a hidden speaker, "You will be my own, personal guinea pig, and I'll fix Scott up."

Erik sighed in relief. There was hope for Scott yet. If he let himself become the lab rat of the monster that had taken them, Scott would not have to suffer in extreme pain.

"Don't worry! I won't hurt you too much. I'm currently testing a new breed of psychological torture, and you will make a perfect test subject. I have been told that it works very well, but there are still improvements that can be made to increase its effectiveness."

Erik was confused. That time, the voice had come from beside him, and he could tell that whoever was speaking was inside the cell with him, but there was no one else in there…except…Scott. Looking over towards the unconscious boy cautiously, Erik narrowed his eyes. How could the unconscious boy speak to him, especially in that creepy, eerie, sinister voice? But Scott was no longer unconscious—cold glowing red eyes were staring up at Erik.

"Um…are you getting your powers back?" Erik asked, hopefully.

For the contemplative reader, some questions-

What's up with Scott?

Is Scott Summers even real? (This is my favorite question)

Is Mr. Sinister screwing with everyone's minds?

What will Erik do now? Has he finally met his match?

Will our ragtag team of mutants save them?

How will they even find them?

Take a stab at these questions, and come back later for the answers to these questions and more!


	12. Deception

Chapter Twelve: Deception

Emma, Alex, and Hank stood in the parking lot of the outlet shopping center. Hank was wearing a trench coat and fedora to mask his beastly appearance, and Sean, Raven, and Kurt were waiting in the Blackbird, which looked out of place in the deserted parking lot.

"I'm trying as best I can, but I can't seem to find anyone who saw anything suspicious yesterday." Emma was frowning in concentration, her fingers up at her brow. She dropped her hand to her side and shook her head. "No one has seen anything."

"Are you sure? Obviously the shoppers aren't the same as the ones yesterday. Maybe one of them saw something!"

"Calm down, Alex. This someone was good enough to kidnap Erik—too good to have been seen by anyone. Besides, I don't think anyone actually shops here…" Hank flattened out the fur on the top of his head, which had grown back nicely since the unfortunate Danger Room incident.

"I don't think I can find Erik and Scott on my own, but the first new mutant Erik and I found is a very powerful young telepath. Although she does not know how to control her powers yet, her potential greatly surpasses mine, and perhaps even Xavier's." Emma let her words sink into the flabbergasted young mutants, and then she continued, "She lives here, in New York, and she may be able to help us find them."

They boarded the plane, and after a short flight, had almost reached the small town that Jean Grey called home.

"I can't exactly land this plane here. There aren't any large, open spaces for me to land the Blackbird."

"Don't worry, I have an idea." Emma unbuckled her seatbelt and walked over to Kurt. "Okay, Kurt. I need you to teleport me down to this house." She projected an image of a small, gray-bricked house with a nice patio and beautiful flowers into Kurt's head.

"Okay. I can do it."

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Everyone in the plane turned to look at Hank, who was scratching his fur apologetically. "Theoretically, if Kurt teleports, he will smash into some buildings and die instantly because he will still be moving at the same speed as he is right now. Even though we look like we're not moving at all, we are actually moving at the same velocity as the plane, so Kurt and Emma will be mush," Hank explained with great gusto.

"I have a solution!" Sean exclaimed.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief before Hank's voice finally returned to him. "What is it?" he asked, with as much patience as he could muster.

"Slow the damn plane down like you did when Magneto was floating the sub!"

"Even if I slow the plane down, we'll still be moving at speeds faster than the body can handle when it comes in contact with a hard object. Sean, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Hey! Yes, I do. I'm not stupid or anything!"

"Shut up!" All of the other mutants were shocked—Kurt was normally such a sweet boy, and he hardly ever raised his voice. "I'm sorry. I just needed to get your attention. You are both thinking too much into this. My powers don't require that much thought."

They were now close enough and low enough to see Jean's quaint little house. Grabbing hold of Emma's arms, Kurt teleported them away with a loud "bamf," leaving only a foul-smelling smoke.

"Kurt!" Raven shouted, but it was too late; the teleporter was long gone. "Hank, you'd better be wrong about that." She pressed her face up against the window, straining to see the specks of people along the ground.

The two specks in question rang the doorbell of the Grey household and waited patiently outside for the footsteps to finally reach the door.

"I told you that it would work. Those geeks were making this into such a big deal, but it's not as if any mutant really follows the laws of physics." Kurt smirked, but then suddenly had another thought. "Are you sure I won't scare them away? I don't want to freak anyone out, with my appearance. Don't take me wrong—I look awesomely hip, but I'm not sure everyone thinks so…"

"As a fellow mutant, the girl will probably be accepting. Her parents might have a heart attack, but don't worry—I'll call an ambulance in that case." Patting Kurt's shoulder, Emma smiled mockingly.

"Thanks for that."

"Heh. Now, in all honesty, you probably won't have any trouble. The Greys seemed very accepting of mutants. I'm sure that they will be initially startled by your appearance, but you have got to admit—it is a bit jarring for someone that does not know what to expect." Emma was beginning to act like the teacher she had always dreamed of becoming. Smirking, she inwardly laughed at how soft she was becoming.

The door swung open, and the graying Dr. Grey stood before them. At Kurt's appearance, he did a double take, before recovering and smiling pleasantly. "Hello…Miss Frost, was it?" Emma gave a curt nod. "And this must be one of your young mutant students! How very nice to meet you."

He stuck at his hand for a handshake, and Kurt gripped it firmly with his three fingers. "Nice to meet you, too. My name is Kurt Wagner."

"Oh. You're from Germany. How wonderful! Why don't you two come in? I'll get you something to eat, and we can talk."

"Danke, but we are in a bit of a hurry. Something bad has happened and we need to borrow your daughter urgently! Miss Frost will explain."

Kurt pushed Emma forward, but she had no interest in wasting her time with an explanation. Placing her fingers to her brow, she sent all of her knowledge about the kidnapping into Dr. Grey's mind.

"Hmmm… This is quite troubling. You're saying that Jean's unique gifts can help you." Thoughtfully rubbing his chin, Dr. Grey whirled around and called for his daughter. "Jeanie! I need you to come here immediately!"

Frantic footsteps rushed downstairs, and Jean popped her head out of the door. She was hoisting a backpack on her shoulders, and her face held a determined look.

"You look ready to leave," her father commented.

"I don't just look ready, I _am _ready. Come on, let's go save Scott and Erik." She flew out of her house, red hair billowing behind her and grabbed onto Kurt's shoulder.

"Um…" Kurt shifted awkwardly on his oddly-shaped feet. "I had not realized that you already know Scott and Mr. Lensherr. How did you meet them?" He tried to shake Jean's hand off of his shoulder, but her grip was too tight.

"Stop that, silly. I need you to teleport me onto the Blackbird. I met 'Mr. Lensherr' when he and Emma came to the hospital to save me." She turned to Emma and displayed a sparkling smile. "Thank you. I will never forget that."

Having finally finished studying the young redhead, Emma answered the rest of Kurt's question. "Jean here has never met Scott before. Someone is being a bit too unrestrained with her telepathy." Emma spoke through clenched teeth, eyeing Jean with distaste. She had liked the girl better when Jean had been in a coma.

"Well," Kurt giggled, "at least you don't have to bother with another longwinded explanation."

He grabbed onto Emma as well, and they disappeared, leaving behind just a cloud of purple smoke. The resounding "bamf" caused Dr. Grey to jump in fright. Staring at the empty space with a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity, Jean's father waved away the putrid smoke.

Raven broke out into a broad grin at the sight of the smoke in the back of the plane, and she leaped out of her seat to go greet Kurt and the unfamiliar redhead still gripping his arm. "Kurt! You're safe! That's so great. I was so worried about you." If not for the fact that Jean was clinging to her son's arm, she would have given him a large, embarrassing hug. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at the new red-haired teenager. "Hi, I'm Raven, or Mystique; whichever you prefer."

"I'm Jean Grey, and before you ask, the reason I'm still holding onto your son is because I'm feeling a great deal of vertigo right now, and I don't want to throw up in front of everyone. That's not the best way to make a good impression."

"Jean, are you really trying to read everyone's minds, or can you just not help it?" Sick of the way Jean was probing people's minds without permission, Emma finally snapped. "No one appreciates you going through their thoughts like that."

"Um…I can't really control it yet, but I've been trying!" Jean's cheeks were faintly tinged pink as a blush spread through her face. "You're just jealous because I don't have to use my fingers and make it obvious when I use my powers."

"She's got you there, Emma." Chuckling, Sean elbowed Alex jokingly in the side.

"Sean, this is not the time for joking! My little brother is out there—who knows where—and we need as much help as we can get to find him!" Alex's stoicism clued Sean into the direness of the situation, but Alex ruined it by adding, "And Erik," in a very offhanded manner. "Screw that; we don't want to destroy all hope and humor in the world."

"You've got that right."

After witnessing Alex's little realization, Emma pulled Jean aside to talk. "When we get back to the mansion, I'll take you down to Cerebro. We're working on the belief that if we pool our telepathic powers, when Cerebro amplifies them, we will be strong enough to tear down our kidnapper's psychic shields."

Jean nodded. "That sounds reasonable." She agreed to the plan although she did not truly understand Cerebro's workings. She could read Hank's mind, but some of his thoughts were on a higher levels than hers which she could not understand. Hopefully, she would be able to learn from him when she started at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

They dipped into the clouds as they approached the Xavier manor. When they emerged from the bottom of the clouds, Jean caught her first glimpse of the sprawling Westchester estate. Just the mansion was enormous, but the lawns extended far, and the landscaping was beautiful all on its own. As they landed, Jean pressed her forehead up against the cool glass of the window and took in her new school.

"It's beautiful!" Jean exclaimed as she ran down the exit ramp. When she landed softly on the ground, she suddenly felt a sharp pain coursing through her entire body. Groaning, she pulled at her fiery red hair. Closing her eyes, she saw a brown-haired boy—not much younger than her—his eyes red with…was it sorrow? Pain? Anger?

_Erik was confused. That time, the voice had come from beside him, and he could tell that whoever was speaking was inside the cell with him, but there was no one else in there…except…Scott. Looking over towards the unconscious boy cautiously, Erik narrowed his eyes. How could the unconscious boy speak to him, especially in that creepy, eerie, sinister voice? But Scott was no longer unconscious—cold glowing red eyes were staring up at Erik._

"_Um…are you getting your powers back?" Erik asked, hopefully._

"No, I don't think so." Scott replied in a soft whisper, laboriously swinging his one unbroken arm up to rub his eyes. "Why?"

"What? But you…" Frowning in confusion, Erik brought his hand up to his own eyes, rubbing vigorously. Had he only been imagining things? That turn of events would make things much easier, but he knew what he had seen and heard. A flood of memories suddenly returned to him and he reached forward, grabbing the Scott impersonator by the collar of his shirt.

"Mr. Lensherr!" Scott cried out in pain. "Please stop. You're hurting me!"

The whining was pitiful to Erik's ears. He shoved the boy's body roughly against the wall of the cell—he would show that he was strong even without his mutant powers. The sound of broken bones being pushed even further out of place seemed almost real, but Erik was not buying it. Even Scott's whimpers were not enough to stop him.

"Don't try to trick me, Sinister. I won't be fooled again. I remember what happened at the orphanage in Omaha—you have some sort of shape-shifting ability. I know you're not Scott! I know what you did to Scott when he lived in that orphanage!"

Angrily, Erik pulled "Scott" away from the wall and threw him onto the floor.

"Aggh. It hurts! It really hurts! I thought you were a good guy. Why are you doing this to me? I promise you, I really am Scott! What do I have to do to convince you?"

Erik stomped on the whimpering mutant's chest, grinding his foot into the broken ribs. Aggravating the injuries was not enough—they were obviously not even real. Picking him up by the hair, Erik smashed his head into the floor of the cell. Blood was gushing from a wound on Scott's head, and tears were now streaming down his cheeks. Erik wiped the chunks of hair he had pulled off onto his pants.

"You have to tell me where the real Scott is!"

He grabbed the scruff of the boy's shirt and hoisted him into the hair. He was about to swing his fist when an icy cold chill washed over him. When he tried to move, he found the familiar feeling of being frozen in place.

"I would let him go if I were you, Erik. I can assure you—he is the real Scott. My powers don't include shape-shifting, but they do include the ability to create illusions!" Mr. Sinister smiled, his shark-like teeth gleaming.

The side of the cell was not actually a wall—it was a window into Mr. Sinister's lab. Sharp instruments were hanging from hooks on the wall, surrounding metal tables, and reminding Erik all too much of a scene from his childhood. But there was one big difference—strange creatures swimming in liquid-filled containers and jars full of brains.

"I told you, I'm a geneticist at heart!"

Author's note: Hmmmmmmmmm…Is Scott just an illusion?

I can't sleep anymore. Mr. Sinister haunts my dreams.


	13. Unlucky

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the wait. I was on vacation, but I'm back now, so here's a new chapter. I hope you like it! I enjoy getting feedback, so please review. Also, I've been watching a lot of CSI, so this chapter's a bit dark.

Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky

Every part of Scott's being ached painfully. Even breathing caused pain to rack through his body. He had never been this hurt—not since waking up from a coma after the fateful plane crash. But even then, it had not been a physical pain—his injuries had healed during the months he had been in a coma—it had been emotional, psychological. The loss of his parents and his brother's abandonment had hit him hard, but grief was different than actual physical pain.

Right now, Scott felt helpless. Erik did not believe that Scott was real, and the monster that haunted Scott's childhood was standing creepily behind a glass window. The magnetic mutant had even acknowledged the existence of this Mr. Sinister, but still did thought that Scott was just an illusion. Scott was now on his own, with a helplessness that reminded him too much of how weak he had been when he had just woken from the coma. Months of disuse had caused his muscles to begin atrophying, and he had needed to work very hard to regain strength. Currently, his weakness was caused by nearly unbearable pain, and he could not stop groaning.

The groans caught Sinister's attention, and he waved his hand, causing Scott to return into unconsciousness. Mr. Sinister smiled, and a previously hidden door swung open, leading from his lab to the cell.

"Come in here, Erik, and bring Scott. Please lay him down on the table; I did promise to give him medical attention."

Unable to control his own movements, Erik obediently lifted Scott into his arms and walked into the well-equipped laboratory. He eyed the gleaming metal instruments, but there was nothing he could do with them without his powers. After gently placing Scott on the metallic table, Erik felt his muscles return to his control, but there was no time to sigh in relief—he was at the mercy of a powerful mutate, and he could not access his own powers.

Turning to the creepy, inhuman being, Erik frowned deeply. "Well, this is easily the weirdest dream I've ever had."

A sinister cackle filled the room. "You're not dreaming; you're awake."

Smiling cheekily, Erik stood up as straight as he could. "Well, this is easily the weirdest illusion I've ever fallen under."

"How adorable. You're trying to save face." Mr. Sinister approached Erik, placing his hands on either side of the mutant's face and peering into the cold, blue eyes. "You've served your purpose, but I'll let you live—there's no real need to kill such a fascinating creature." He caressed the skin of Erik's cheeks, causing the mutant to stiffen and try to push Sinister off. But Mr. Sinister merely smiled and chuckled at Erik's efforts. "You can't overpower me, and you promised to become my test subject if I gave Scott medical attention, which I intend on doing."

Meanwhile, with Mr. Sinister's attention fully focused on Erik, young Scott had regained consciousness. Scott had managed to slide himself off of the table and onto the floor and was now crawling over towards Mr. Sinister. He grabbed the sharpest looking blade from the wall of knives, gripping it in his good hand. After a lot of effort, Scott was able to sneak up behind Sinister, who was still focused on Erik.

A trail of blood smeared against the floor from where Scott had been lying to his current spot behind Sinister. Scott was clutching at his sides, doing his best to protect his bruised and broken ribs, but he suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline, standing up and thrusting his full weight forward towards the monster that had made his childhood hell and was now torturing him and his new mentor. He closed his eyes tightly as he plunged the knife forward.

Even Erik's gag reflex was not responding to his brain commands, and Mr. Sinister was nearly fondling him now. If he had control over his body, he would be puking his guts out all over the creep, grossing him away. Suddenly, the sickening sound of bones snapping filled the lab. He looked down at himself, but there were no broken bones on his person, but there was a knife tip mere centimeters away from his chest. Mr. Sinister stared down at his own chest in shock, where he had been impaled through the heart. He stumbled back, but there was no way for him to heal while there was a knife stuck through him. He let his hold on Erik drop—it was too taxing to keep it up—and concentrated on healing his own wounds.

Scott twisted the butcher knife, jerking his wrist sharply. Blood began gushing from Sinister's knife wound, but he was still alive.

"He must have accelerated healing!" Erik shouted. He felt in control now, and when he flexed his arms, the metal instruments on the walls responded to him. He knew what to do now—just let the anger control him, let the anger strengthen his powers. Anger flowed through every fiber of his being, and he let out an anguished howl as his powers ripped the knives and scalpels off the wall. The metal in the room began shaking, vibrating violently.

Mr. Sinister watched, mesmerized, as his metal instruments swirled around in the air and came to point directly at him. The knives surrounded him from all sides, and he knew that his time was over. His injured state left him vulnerable; his powers could not stop the inevitable. He opened his mouth to give his last words, his last warning to the unsuspecting mutants, but the knives plunged themselves into his flesh before he had time for even one last breath. 

The bloody mess that used to be Mr. Sinister no longer even resembled a human in Erik's eyes. "He wasn't even a human when he was alive. He was practically already dead."

Scott nodded in assent. "That thing deserved to die." He gave Erik a small, twisted smile. "Now do you believe I'm the real Scott?" The adrenaline rush having ended, Scott collapsed to the floor, his wounds finally taking their toll.

Erik gazed at the unconscious young man, guilt beginning to gnaw at him. "I'm sorry, Scott. I never meant for anything like this to happen. I really thought that Mr. Sinister was playing with my mind, and that you were just an illusion."

"Are you okay, Jean? Are you hurt?" Hank rushed over to where Jean had collapsed into a kneeling position. He placed a steady hand on her back, hoisting her back onto her feet.

"I'm fine. I'm not hurt—it's Scott. I know where he is. We need to get there fast; he's badly injured. They're both in Nebraska."

"Omaha?" Alex's knuckles cracked loudly as he clenched his fingers into fists. "But we didn't find anything when we went there. How badly is Scott hurt? Is he okay? Can we get there in time?"

"He's alive. I formed a mental connection with him, so he is at least alive…"

Raven and Kurt let out identical sighs, further proof that they were related, while Alex frowned deeply. It was not enough for him that Scott was alive; if he was hurt, injured in any way, he would kill the bastards responsible for it. And since it had already been established that Scott was hurt, Alex had some dirty business to take care of in the future. He wondered if all of this knuckle cracking could be damaging to his joints, but it made him seem more menacing, so it did not really matter.

"You know, this is the perfect time to test out our new uniforms. I can run down to my lab immediately and grab them." Hank suggested. "I even made them for our new, young members."

"We don't have time for that, Hank. Do you seriously think that every time there is an emergency, we're going to run all the way down to your stupid, little lab and get those silly costumes?" Alex rolled his eyes. Normally, he would not be this dismissive and rude, but his little brother was in trouble, and here they were, just standing around and talking.

"We could use those costumes…at least yours." Now, Raven spoke up. "You can't fully control your powers, and it won't help if you accidentally incinerate your brother. But Kurt's already been everywhere in the mansion, so he can easily teleport down there and get the uniforms if it's necessary."

With a nod, Kurt disappeared, returning a few moments later with a bundle of navy and yellow uniforms. There were a few exceptions—what looked like a skimpy white bikini with a cape, a little green dress, and a red and navy spandex ensemble. Kurt picked up the little white outfit, holding it up for everyone to see.

Hank's blue coloring on his face shifted towards purple, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Emma specifically asked for a field uniform to those specifications."

"What?" Raven scoffed. "Skimpy and white? Where is Emma anyway? And Sean for that matter?"

Emma and Sean completely bypassed Jean and were nearly at the door to the mansion when they hit an invisible wall. While Sean had seen that Hank was already helping her up, Emma had completely ignored the girl and had kept walking. An invisible force, Jean's telekinesis, pulled the two other mutants back towards the Blackbird.

Putting her fingers to her temple, Emma concentrated on Alex's mind. "I sense some evidence of psychic tampering, done by an extremely powerful telepath." At Jean's look of confusion, Emma explained, "I overheard your entire conversation."

"And yet you still kept walking…"

Emma huffed. "What I want to know, Jean, is how your telepathy could reach all the way to Nebraska without you even using Cerebro."

"That's my secret!" Jean smiled, her youthful face allowing an air of innocence.

"She has no idea, does she?" Sean commented to no one in particular, but everyone answered him with a nod.

Staring at her short green dress, Jean scratched her chin. When she had spoken to Hank on the phone, the dress had seemed cute and cool, but now that she had seen it in person, the realization of its impracticality had hit her, full force. Hank stepped over to her, handing her a standard yellow and navy uniform.

"I knew you would have second thoughts." He smiled, eyes glinting knowingly.

The mutants changed into the uniforms, the girls moving to the other side of the blackbird. Alex changed the quickest and was now growing impatient. They needed to save his younger brother from evil kidnappers, and still had not left the mansion grounds.

"If Scott is hurt, there's no time to waste. We need to get to Omaha now!" Brows kit in determination, Alex stormed up the ramp to the Blackbird. Everyone was somewhat surprised that he had taken up the role of leadership in Erik's absence, but after only a moment's hesitation, the first mutant—Sean—followed him.

After everyone reentered the plane, Hank immediately took to the controls, pushing the Blackbird into full throttle after liftoff. The jet zoomed through the sky, skimming over the clouds. Having flown there and back already, Hank knew the course, but he still put all of his concentration into piloting. Sitting on the edge of their seats, the other mutants kept silent during the flight, except for Alex, who periodically breathed quite heavily and gripped the edge of his seat in anger. Near the end of the flight, Alex gasped sharply, eyes widening. The world spun slightly around him, but his ever firm grip on the edge of his seat kept him upright.

"I remember…the monster…is real. We saw Scott's monster when we went to the orphanage, and he did something to us. There's some weird stuff going on in the basement. That's where we need to go!"

No one—besides the telepaths—really understood what Alex was going on about, but they at least understood the urgency and desperation lacing his words. At the end of the flight, when they began slowing down, and the nose of the plane dipped down through the clouds for the first time, most of the mutants were about ready to jump right out of the plane. Only common sense kept them in their seats, and soon enough, they had landed. Forgoing the airport, Hank landed haphazardly in an empty field near the orphanage.

Taking charge, Alex barked out orders, "Beast, you're the fastest, so run ahead into the orphanage and find Scott! Emma, use your telepathy to search for him. Mystique, you need to help Hank look for Scott and Erik. Banshee, you and I will be on the offensive."

"What about us?" Jean asked. She and Kurt stared at the older mutants expectantly, having not received orders. They were just as powerful as the others, and their powers could help in the battle that was sure to come. "You can't just treat us like kids!"

"But you **are** just kids!" Alex's condescending tone was not helping any, but he could not help it as he looked down at the two young mutants. They were untrained in their powers and could only be a liability in a fight. "Come on. We're wasting time again, and we're so close to where Scott is!"

The five more experienced mutants raced off towards the orphanage. Night was descending through the sky, creating a dull grayness. There were no children playing outside, and the lights of the orphanage were all off, despite the fact that it was only dusk. The door was locked, but Alex easily blasted through the wood as if it was paper.

"We could have gone about this a bit more sneakily," Hank commented as he sped downstairs towards the basement. He reached the bottom of the flight of stairs before the last of the others had crossed the threshold of the entrance.

"Look at yourself!" Sean laughed. "We're nothing if not conspicuous."

"There are a couple doors down here. They were locked, but I managed to smash them open. Anyway, we have a couple of options here. I though you said the basement was empty, Havok." Hank felt silly using their codenames, but now that they were out of the safety of the mansion and the jet in their uniforms, anyone could be listening.

"It's the hallway on the right. Go through until you reach another fork, and then go to the left," Emma's voice supplied in the Beast's head, "I can use my telepathy to guide you; you can get there much faster without the rest of us slowing you down."

Hank sped off down the far right hallway and was already gone when the other mutants entered the basement.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Alex asked, angrily. "I didn't give him any orders!"

Meanwhile, Jean and Kurt sat on the plane, annoyance evident in both their faces. Kurt's power of teleportation could have been very useful in finding the two kidnapped mutants as quickly as possible, and Jean's telepathy and telekinesis were very powerful. Sulkily, that sat and looked at each other.

Finally, Jean became fed up with all of the waiting. "That's it! This is so stupid." Suddenly, she frowned, narrowing her eyes. "Scott's badly hurt and unconscious, but Mr. Lensherr is fine, so I can still get their location. Do you see it?"

Kurt felt as though he was being sucked through a whirlpool, and then he found himself looking at the world through Erik's eyes. Kurt was inside a lab, which was in disarray—knifes and tools lying all over the place—but at the same time, he was sitting next to Jean. When he spotted Scott, who was somehow beside him, unconscious and bloody, Kurt knew exactly what to do. He grabbed Jean firmly by the wrist and teleported to the location he saw when he was inside Erik's head.

Sighing, Erik looked at Scott's prone body. At the moment, he was debating whether to risk moving Scott or call an ambulance. Although he was aware that he lacked the training necessary to give Scott medical attention, Erik did not want to involve human officials in this matter. The police would be notified about the kidnapping and the dead body, and he did not want to have anything to do with a police investigation. Abruptly, a loud "bamf" startled him, and smoke filled the room. Leaping up, Erik placed himself in front of Scott, prepared to defend him to the death.

"Hello!" A familiar red-haired girl said. "We have come to save you!" She rushed over to Scott, gasping at his injured body. "He definitely needs urgent medical care. We should take him to the hospital." Now that the sulfur smell of Kurt's teleportation had dissipated, an overwhelming odor of blood and death attacked Jean and Kurt's noses. Luckily, the stench mostly came from Mr. Sinister's corpse and not from Scott, but the odor and the dead body still sickened the two youngsters.

"No!" Growling, Erik grabbed the girl's wrists. "The humans won't understand. They can't be trusted to take care of him."

"Let go of her! You are not thinking clearly right now. This has obviously been a terrible experience for you, but you are physically uninjured. Scott will not be okay unless he gets to the hospital."

The soft voice of Kurt's pleas cut into Erik like razor-sharp blades. Kurt's German accent reminded Erik of earlier, more difficult times, and he relented, falling to his knees. "You are right. Scott needs this. His wounds are serious and physical, while mine are mental."

Not really knowing what to do about a teacher who was kneeling on the floor, wallowing in sadness, Kurt slid away quietly. He finally made it to where Jean was standing, arms outstretched in Scott's direction. Her face was bent in extreme concentration, and the unconscious mutant was slowly rising into the air. When he reached about waist level, Jean broke out into a grin.

"Yes! I did it." She wiped an invisible bead of sweat off her brow. "This is much harder than it looks." She maintained concentrating on keeping Scott at a steady level, and she frowned at Kurt. "Where are the others? What's taking them so long?"

Hank was still racing through the hallways leading toward the lab. It was a long, complicated labyrinth, and he was having difficulty navigating it, even with Emma's help.

"Okay, now turn—"

Hank sniffed the air, cutting Emma off. "I can smell the coppery scent of blood. I don't need anymore directions."

A few moments later, Hank reached the door to the lab. Flinging it open, he stepped inside to an unexpected sight. Erik was lying on his knees, Scott was hovering in midair, and somehow, Kurt and Jean were the cause of it all.


	14. Rescue

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. Just depressed because there were so few reviews for the last chapter. :^(

Chapter 14: Rescued

_A few moments later, Hank reached the door to the lab. Flinging it open, he stepped inside to an unexpected sight. Erik was lying on his knees, Scott was hovering in midair, and somehow, Kurt and Jean were the cause of it all._

The worst sight was the badly mangled dead body in the middle of the room. Hank could hardly tell if it was human, let alone male or female. Blood pools littered the room, and the body's intestines hung loose. The smell of decomposition attacked his nose, and he shuddered. Hank's gag reflex went into overdrive, but he did his best to prevent the reemergence of his lunch. "Did you do that?" Hank covered his eyes and gestured to the bloody mess.

With a small glance at Erik, Jean defended herself, "No, it was like that when we got here!" Jean was slightly angry at the beastly mutant. She had been using her telepathy to block out Kurt's sight and smell of the corpse, and now his attention was being brought to something he could not sense at all.

It was obvious by Hank's reaction that he did not believe her. "We should really go through a screening process before we accept people into our school." Hank growled, animalistic rage overcoming him, flowing through his veins. He leaped forward to save Scott, but found himself frozen in midair, Jean's face bent in utter concentration. The anger quickly dissipated, and a calm Hank was listening to Jean with rapt attention.

"Look, I know this looks suspicious, but we're just trying to help. We knew that we could get here faster than any of you could due to Kurt's teleportation power. Why waste time doing absolutely nothing in the jet when we could help out here? We got here faster than any of you, and you can't dispute that!"

"I know how to solve this problem!" Kurt positioned himself in between Jean and Scott, placing his hands on either one of them. Teleporting out, they left Hank alone with Erik, who still seemed pretty out of it.

Hank felt a daze lift off of himself that he had not even realized was there. Without Jean's calming influence or a target for his anger, Hank merely felt total confusion. Looking at the corpse, he now understood that there was no way that young teenagers could do such a thing. He walked over to Erik, but after surveying him for injuries, noticed that the older mutant was relatively unharmed for a kidnapping victim. This only raised more questions in Hank's mind, but he did not want to start interrogating Erik after only just having saved him.

Grabbing Erik's wrist, Hank pulled the oddly complacent man through the hallways and back to the basement stairs. Having navigated the maze of hallways before, Hank found it to be much easier the second time around. It took less than ten minutes for them to finally reach the orphanage's entrance, but by then, there was already a commotion underway. Police cars and an ambulance were parked on the driveway, and young men wearing uniforms rushed out. The paramedics were already loading a small form on a stretcher into the ambulance, urgency marked in their solemn faces.

Hank looked down at his blue fur covered body and made a snap decision—he shoved Erik outside and walked into the open. He supposed that Kurt and Jean had been faster at getting Scott medical attention. The young mutant was safe. The police officers were already getting a statement from Emma, and he decided that she could probably handle everything with her telepathy. He walked over to where he could overhear her conservation and listened intently.

"So, Miss Collins, you were jogging past the orphanage when you heard a ruckus inside? That's when you called the police?" The young officer was jotting down some notes on his notepad.

Emma smiled, but the policeman only saw a serious young brunette who was wearing a tracksuit. "Yes. I went up to the window, and I saw Miss Ko beating up one of the young orphans. She had seemed so nice and innocent before, but I guess the quiet ones are always the ones…"

"And then what happened?"

"Miss Ko ran down into the basement, and she hadn't come out since. I heard some gunshots, though. Do you think it was a suicide?"

"It's likely that Miss Ko assaulted the child and killed herself out of guilt, but I can't reveal anymore details. The other policemen are going into the basement right now to look for Miss Ko's body, and the boy will be taken to the hospital." The officer walked away from Miss Collins. She was the only eyewitness; the other orphans had somehow seen absolutely nothing, and there were no other people close enough to the orphanage to see anything.

Hank scratched the fur on the back of his head in confusion. "Emma, who is Miss Ko? Is she just someone you made up to explain why there is a corpse in a basement that does not suit an orphanage at all?"

"No, she's actually Mr. Sinister. Or more accurately, she was Mr. Sinister in a telepathic disguise—an illusion to make it appear as though Sinister was an innocent woman and not a psychotic monster. She ran the orphanage, and I thought that this was a good way to explain what happened to her and Scott. Also, the police can deal with Sinister's mutilated corpse, and we don't have to."

Hank smirked at Emma's directness. "I'll take the kids back to the mansion. I assume that Alex went with Scott in the ambulance, but you and Erik should probably go there and see how Scott's doing. You might also consider admitting Erik into the psychiatric ward. He's physically fine, but he is acting strange and hasn't spoken yet, and I'm afraid he's had a psychotic break."

Across the yard, Erik was still in hearing distance. Hank's words shook something in Erik, and he realized that he needed to pull himself together—at least for the students. "No, I'm fine. Emma, Hank's right; we need to go to the hospital and be there for Scott. Hank, go take care of the others. You're in charge until we get back, but tell Sean and Raven that I'm counting on them to be responsible of the kids. I see that Jean joined while I was gone." Erik kept his voice steady and his emotions in control as he stared into Hank's yellow eyes.

Beast nodded and left to gather the others, while Erik called a taxi. When he and Emma got the hospital, they went straight to the Emergency Room entrance, but could not find Scott. The nurse at the information desk directed them to a hospital room, where Scott was being patched up by a doctor in a flowing white lab coat. It was not a private room—another young man was resting on the bed next to Scott—but the curtain around Scott's bed gave him at least a semblance of privacy.

"Is he okay?" Erik rushed over to Scott's hospital bed. Alex was sitting in a chair next to the bed, and Erik hoped that his guilt was not showing on his face—the protective older brother would surely kill him if he knew that he was the one who beat Scott up.

Rubbing his hand through his blond hair, Alex studied his brother. After it did not seem like he was any closer to answering Erik, the doctor spoke up.

"His left arm and leg are broken, he has two fractured ribs and many more bruised ones, and his body is covered in lacerations, but there were no infected wounds, and we were able to set the broken bones and stitch up the deepest cuts. There isn't much we can do except let Scott heal, but I recommend bed rest for at least a week after he is discharged and refraining from any vigorous activity for at least a month. He's on morphine right now, and I'll prescribe painkillers for him later. He'll need to come back after that month to get his casts removed."

"When will he be okay to travel? We live in New York."

"I'd like for Scott to stay in the hospital for at least a week. After that, he'll be clear to travel, but he'll need a wheelchair to get around until he gets the casts removed."

"Okay, thank you, doctor."

The doctor nodded and exited the room, leaving the four mutants alone, except for the other patient. Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt like the two older mutants were intruding on his time with his brother, but he felt awkward saying anything. Unfortunately for him, the telepathic Emma could sense his discomfort, but could care less. Making men uncomfortable gave her an odd sense of comfort.

Alex had placed a spare pair of ruby quartz glasses on Scott so that he would not blow the roof off of the hospital when he woke up. Stitches were visible above Scott's glasses, across his forehead. Erik placed a hand on the hard plaster cast encasing Scott's arm. He felt primarily responsible for Scott's injuries, but a weight lifted off of his shoulders as he studied the boy. Scott did not look as though he had been injured as badly as Erik had thought earlier. He suspected that it might have had something to do with Sinister altering his perceptions of Scott's injuries, but it could have been the fact that the wounds were now dressed and cleaned.

After a while, Alex cleared his throat, stealing Erik's attention away from Scott. The look in Alex's eyes clearly told the magnetic mutant that he wanted some alone time with his brother, so Erik left the hospital room, dragging Emma along with him.

Clear of the hospital room, Emma needed a new male target to make uncomfortable. She and Erik sat down on a bench in the hallway, and she scooted dangerously close to him. "He's going to hate you now," Emma whispered, her breath tickling his ear.

Erik's heart sank. So Emma knew…of course she knew. Erik's hand jerked up to the top of his head, finding only hair. Cursing the nakedness he felt without that helmet, he turned to Emma. "Who, Scott? Or Alex? It could be anyone, really; everybody is going to hate me." There was no use trying to hide anything from Emma—without the helmet, he was an open book to any telepath.

"Relax, I don't hate you." Emma smiled, somehow managing to move even closer to Erik. "I know that you are weak to telepathic attack and manipulation, and that's where Scott's monster hit you."

Erik allowed Emma to stay so close to him. Right now, she was actually comforting him, and her words were helping him live with his actions. It would take time for him to forgive himself, but he had more control over that than how long it would take for the Summers boys to forgive him.

Meanwhile, the other mutants were returning to the mansion. As they entered the foyer, a light bulb went off in Sean's head. "Everyone that's here, let's have a meeting! I just had the best idea, and everyone needs to hear it." Since everyone was still in the foyer and had given Sean their attention once he had spoken, he continued, "We've already saved people twice, so it's official—we're pretty much superheroes, and almost all of us, except Jean, have a superhero name…"

"Actually, I have a superhero codename for Jean!" Kurt shouted.

Jean raised a red eyebrow. "What is it? It better not be Red."

Kurt's eyes darted back and forth. He needed to think of an awesome nickname at the spur of the moment because his other one had been shot down. "I know! Marvel Girl! Because your powers are so marvelous and all."

Shrugging, Jean grinned. "I can live with that codename."

"Okay, since we all have superhero names now, I can continue with my announcement. Everybody knows that superhero teams need awesome names, like the Invaders. I've come up with a name—the Uncanny X-Men." Sean declared.

The mutants stared at Sean as though he was crazy. They should have known better than thinking Sean had something serious to say.

"Is uncanny part of the name?" Beast had to ask.

Blushing, Sean rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it was gonna be, but you're right—having an adjective already in the name defeats the purpose. Anyway, I chose X-Men to honor Professor X. He'll live on in us. His dream is already living on in us."

A stray tear rolled down Raven's cheek. "Wow, Sean, that's so sensitive, but I won't settle for anything less than X-People." She broke out into a grin, the tear all but forgotten.

"Not to be sexist or anything, but that does not exactly roll off the tongue like X-Men does," Hank pointed out.

"It's official then. We're the X-Men, and we're superheroes. Just wait until Alex gets back with Scott; he'll think this is so cool." Sean's excitement had returned to him, full force.

Instantly, everyone else sobered up at the thought of Scott. No one knew exactly how he was doing, and they were still joking around. They needed news on Scott, but they were probably not going to get it until the others returned from Nebraska.

Please review!


	15. End

Author's Note: This is the last chapter! I was going to write another story arc, but I'm busy with school and other things now. I feel like this is a good place to leave it off anyway. Hmmm... I may actually write a sequel if enough people want it. would you rather have it take place right where this one leaves off, a couple years in the future, or when X-Men 1 takes place?

I'm still up to suggestions and criticism. I will go back and edit things if need be. I'm starting a new story which I've had a really good idea for, but unfortunately it's not about the X-Men. My next story will be so much better if you have any feedback for me! I will personally respond to any reviews as long as they are not anonymous!

Chapter Fifteen: The End

It had been three weeks since Scott's release from the hospital, and he was beginning to slowly heal. The pain had waned down, but Scott was still enjoying the bliss of being half hopped up on pain meds. The sensation of floating on the backs of mystical unicorns came to mind, but Scott could not be sure because he had never actually experienced anything like it. While he watched TV and acted a bit loopy, the other students of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters ran laps around the school grounds. Even the teachers were running—as superheroes, they needed to keep in top shape. Working up their stamina would help them save the world.

Scott yawned and leaned back in the couch. Every time somebody else walked into the room, he would switch the channel back to the news, but even he enjoyed a comedy every now and then. Class had started in the institute, and he needed a break from the intense curriculum championed by Hank.

Nearly everyone wanted to kill Dr. McCoy or skip class, but it was hard to play hooky in a school with only a few students, but at least Scott was exempt from all of the physical activity until he was fully healed. His arm was out of the cast and barely sore, but his leg was taking longer to heal, and he still needed the pain medication. It was difficult to move without jostling his leg, so Scott was perfectly fine reclining on the couch. His ribs were past the stage where it would hurt to breathe, but they still felt a bit tender.

Kurt and Jean came into the room, panting and wheezing, and collapsed onto the floor. Scott glanced at them, but decided to keep his legs outstretched, therefore hogging the couch.

"How was your run?"

They both glared at him, but ignored his comment. Scott had noticed a pattern in everyone's behavior since he had returned—if he asked for something, he would get it, and no one could stay mad at him for anything because they pitied him. Maneuvering himself so he could reach his crutches, Scott grabbed them and swung himself off the couch.

"Hey, Scott. Where are you going?"

Scott did not miss the concern in Kurt's eyes. Everyone was treating him like an invalid, and he was beginning to get sick of it.

"To the kitchen. I'm hungry, so I'm going to grab a snack. Do you want anything?" In all honesty, Scott did not know how he would bring any food back with him, but he wanted to show Kurt that he was capable of doing things on his own.

"That's okay. Why don't you go back to the couch where you were comfortable, and I'll go to the kitchen and get you something. What do you want?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I'm not sure what I want yet, so I'll just look to see what there is. You don't need to get up. I can do this myself!" Scott's every word dripped with venom.

Jean cocked a perfectly red eyebrow, but did not say anything as her green eyes filled with unease. Her one-on-one telepathy sessions with Emma were helping her learn to control her powers, and she was no longer reading everyone's mind all of the time. She understood that most people considered their minds their most private place, but she could not resist delving into Scott's mind and calming him down.

Realizing that he was being unfair to Kurt, who only wanted to help, Scott leaned on his crutches and made his way to the kitchen in silence. The two other young mutants sighed and went upstairs to shower. They only had a half hour before afternoon classes started, and Hank taught pretty much every class. It had not taken long for Erik and Emma to realize that the furry mutant was the only one really qualified to be teaching anyone. Although it was strange having older teens in the same classes with the younger ones, Sean and Alex were able to help Kurt, Jean, and Scott with their lessons while learning at the same time.

"Scott is not allowed to leave the school grounds anymore," Alex announced to Sean.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Sean asked, raising his eyebrows. "You're not his dad or anything…"

"I'm his older brother, and it's my job to protect him. I may have failed in the past, but I will never let him out of my sight again."

"I don't see him right now, so I'm assuming you can't either."

"Well, he's in the school, and I don't want to make him hate me or anything."

"How do you know that he's still inside the school if you can't see him?" Sean pointed out. He smiled, amusing himself in torturing his blond-haired friend.

"You're right! I better go watch him like a hawk!"

Rolling his eyes, Sean watched his friend run off towards the stairs. He slightly regretted sending his friend off, but he really enjoyed teasing the other man. Now alone, Sean left the room and wandered down the hallway until he reached a closed door where hushed voices could be heard inside.

"I, for one, am fully behind your decision. I've always thought that all of this subterfuge and secrecy was unbecoming," Emma said.

"Only when it doesn't suit your purposes, of course," Erik pointed out, "but thank you anyway. The real question is: should I tell the students first, or do they not need to know?"

"You should definitely tell them!" Hank exclaimed. "It would be wrong to keep something this big from them!"

"Why don't you ask Sean? He's a student. Come in, Sean!" Emma shouted so she could easily be heard from outside in the hallway.

The young man entered the room to Erik's sharp glare, Emma's amused smile, and Hank's furry blueness. They seemed to be deep in conversation over a serious topic, and Sean could only wonder why he was not invited to the discussion in the first place.

"I've already contacted the newspapers. It's not up for discussion; I would only tell the others as a courtesy…" Erik explained.

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Sean asked, "Wait- what?" He turned to both Emma and Hank, but they just smirked at him and offered no further explanation.

"Did you really think that we would keep our existence hidden forever? Like cowards?" bellowed Erik, "We are not cowards! And the humans will find out about us on our own terms. I will announce the existence of mutants on live TV for the whole world to hear. They would find out eventually, so we might as well reveal ourselves while we still have the advantage. It's just so ineffective to recruit one student at a time. If we were known to the world, young mutants could just come here and enroll in the school!"

"The good news is that they won't believe you anyway. And who would come all the way to some Westchester on the word of a crackpot who believes in superhuman beings? At least we know that there won't be any angry mobs chasing us with pitchforks." Under his breath, Sean added, "Because you'll just shove their pitchforks up their asses with your magnetic powers."

Either ignoring the last comment or not hearing it at all, Erik tried to make a snappy comeback. "Then I suppose I'll have to make a grand entrance at the Daily Bugle building. Maybe flying through the top floor window while wearing a cape will work?"

Sean decided that Mr. Sinister had most definitely messed with Erik's mind and tried to communicate his thought to Emma, who just rolled her eyes.

Erik smiled and let out a dry chuckle, stalking out of the room. He had many plans to make; he needed to control every factor of the big reveal. Mulling it over, he decided that it would be best to tell the other mutants in advance. Mass heart attacks would be quite unbecoming of a school. As Sean, Hank, and Emma looked on curiously from the door, Erik felt quite powerful. Perhaps he would delay the reveal for a little while longer, just to have something to hold over their heads.


End file.
